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SPEECH 



OF 



HOF. AI^DREW JOHTsTSOjN:, 



OF TENNESSEE, 



ON 



THE WAR FOR THE UNION; 



DELIVERED 



IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, JULY 27, 1861. 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 
18GI. 



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SPEECH 



"The Senate having under consideration tlsc joint ro:*olii- 
tton (S. No. 1) to approve and confirm certain act? of tlie 
President of the United States for suppressing insurrection 
■and rebellion — 

Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee, said; 

Mr. Presioext: When I came from my home 
to the seat of Government, in compliance with 
the proclamation of the President of the United 
•States culling us together in extra session, it was 
not my intention to engage in any of the discus- 
sions t'nat might transpire in this body; {)ut since 
the session bi',gan, in consequence of the course 
that things have taken, I feel unwilling to allow 
the Senate to adjourn without saying a few words 
in respon.se to many things that have been sub- 
Riittetlto the So'iiate since its session comn\enced. 
What little I shall say to-day will be without 
much method or order. I shall present the sug- 
gestions that occur to my mind, and shall en- 
deavor to «peak of the condition of the country 
as it is, 

Gn returning here, we find ourselves, as we were 
when we adjourned last sprino;, in the midst of a 
civil war. That war is now progressing, without 
much ijope or prospect of a speedy termination. 
It seems to me, Mr. President, that our Govern- 
ment has reached one cf three periods through 
which all Governments must pass. A nation, or 
a people, have first to pass through a fierce ordeal 
in obtaining theirindepeiidenceorseparaiion from 
the Government to which they were attached. In 
some instances this is a severe ordeal. We passed 
through such an one in the Revolution; we were 
seven years in effecting the separation, and in 
taking our position at^nongst the nations of the 
earth as a so]iarate and distinct Power, Then, 
-after luiving succeeded in establishing its inde- 
pendence, and taken its position among the nations 
of the earth, a nation must show its ability to 
maintain that position, that separate and distinct 
independi^nee against other Powers, against for- 
eign foes. In 1812, in the history of our Govern- 
ment, this ordeal commenced, and terminated in 
1815. 

There is still another trial through which a nation 
must pass. It has to contend against internal foes; 



against enemies at homo; against those who have 
no confidence in its integrity, or in the institutions 
that may be established under its organic law. 
We are in the midst of this third ordeal, and the 
problem now being solved before the nations of 
the earth, and before the people of the United 
States, is whether we can succeed in maintaining 
ourselves against the internal foes of the Govern- 
ment; whether we can succeed in nutting down 
traitors and treason, and in establisliing the great 
fact that we have a Government with sufficient 
strength to maintain its existence against what- 
ever combination may be presented in opposition 
to it. 

This brings me to a proposition laid down by 
the Executive in his recent message to the Con- 
gress of the United States. In that message the 
President said: 

" This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of 
the Union, it is n struggle l(jr maintaining in the world, 
that form and substance of Government, wliose Iciding 
o'ljc'ot is to clt^vate tlie condition of men ; to lift artificial 
vvuights from all shoulders ; to clear the paths of laudahle 
pnrswit for all ; to afford all an luifettered start, and a fair 
chance in the race of life. Yielding to partial and tempo- 
rary departures, from necessity, this is the leading object of 
the Government, for whose existence we contend." 

I think the question is fairly and properly stated 
by the President, that it is a struggle whether the 
people shall rule; whether the people shall have 
a Government based upon their intelligence, upon 
their integrity, upon thtir purity of character, suf- 
ficient to govern themselves. I think this is the 
true issue; and the time has now arrived when 
the energiesof the nation must be put forth, when 
there must be union and concert on the part of 
all those who agree in man's capability of self- 
government, without regard to their former di- 
visions or party prejudices, in order to demon- 
strate that great pro[)osition. 

Since this discussion commenced, it has been 
urged and argued, by Senators on one side, that 
there was a disposition to change the nature and 
character of the Government; and that, if we pro- 
ceeded as we were going, it would result in estab- 
lishing a dictatorship. It has been said that the 
whole framework, nature, genius, and character 
of the Government would be entirely changed; 
and great apprehensions have been ihrownout 



that it would result in a consolidation of the Gov- 
ernment or a dictatorship. We find, in the speech 
delivered by the distinguished Senator from Ken- 
tucky, [Mr. Breckinridge,] the other day, the 
following paragraph, alluding to what will be the 
effect of the passage of this joint resolution approv- 
ing the action of the President: 

" Here ii> Washington, in Kentucky, in Missouri, every- 
wiiere vvliere tlie auttiority of the President extends, in liis 
discretion he will feel himself warranted by the action of 
Congress upon this resolution to subordinate the civil to the 
military power; to imprison citizens without warrant of 
law ; to suspend the writ of habeas corpus; to establish mar- 
tial law ; to make seizures and searches without warrant ; 
to suppress the press ; to do all those acts which rest in the 
will and in the authority of a military commander. In my 
judgment, sir, if we pass it, we are upon the eve of putting, 
so far as we can, in the hands of the President of the Uni- 
ted States, the power of a dictator." 

Then, in reply to the Senator from Oregon, 
[Mr. Baker,] he seems to have great apprehen- 
sion of a radical change in our form of Govern- 
ment. The Senator goes on to say: 

" The pregnant question, Mr. President, for us to decide 
is, whether the Constitution is to be respected in this strug- 
gle; whether we are to be called upon to follow the fiag 
over the ruins of the Constitution.' Without questioning 
the motives of any, I believe that the whole tendency of 
the present proceedings is to establish a Government with- 
out limitation of powers, and to change radically our frame 
and character of Government." 

Sir, I most fully concur with the Senator that 
there is a great effort being made to change the 
nature and character of our Government. I think 
that effort is being demonstrated and manifested 
most clearly every day; but we differ as to the 
parties making this great effort. 

The Senator alludes in his speech to a con- 
versation he had with some very intelligent gen- 
tleman who formerly represented our country 
abroad. It appears from that conversation that 
foreigners were accustomed to say to Americans, 
*' I thought your Government existed by consent; 
now how is it to exist.'" and the reply was, " we 
intend to change it; we intend to adapt it to our 
condition; these old colonial geographical divis- 
ions and States will ultimately be rubbed out, 
and we shall have a Government strong and pow- 
erful enough." The Senator seemed to have great 
apprehensions based on those conversations. He 
read a paragraph from a paper indicating that 
State lines were to be rubbed out. In addition to 
all this he goes on to state that the writ of habeas 
cojT^tts has been violated, and he says that since the 
Government commenced , there has not been a case 
equal to the one which has recently transpired in 
Maryland. I shall take up some of his points in 
their order, and speak of them as I think they 
deserve to be spoken of. The Senator says: 

"The civil authorities of the country are paralyzed, and 
a practical martial law i.s being established all over the land. 
The like never happened in this country beibre, and would 
not be tolerated in any country in Europe which pretends to 
the elements of civilization and regulated liberty. George 
Washington carried the thirteen colonies through the war 
of the Revolution without martial law. The President of 
the United States cainiot conduct the Government three 
months without resorting to it." 

The Senator puts great stress on the point, and 
epeaks of it in very emphatic language, that Gen- 
eral Washington carried the country through the 



seven years of the Revolution without resorting 
to martial law during all that period of time. Now, 
how does the matter stand.' When we come to 
examine the history of the country, it would seem 
that the Senator had not hunted up all the cases. 
We can find some, and one in particular, not very 
different from the case which has recently occurred , 
and to which he alluded. In 1777, the second 
year of the war of the Revolution, members of the 
Society of Friends in Philadelphia were arrested 
on suspicion of being disaffected to the cause of 
American freedom. A publication now before 
me says: 

" The persons arrested, to the number of twenty," * 
* * '• were taken into custody, by military force, at 
their homes or usual places of business ; many of them 
could not obtain any knowledge of the cause of their arrest, 
or of any one to whom they were amenable, and they could 
only hope to avail themselves of the intervention of some 
civil authority. 

" Tlie Executive Council [of the State of Pennsylvania} 
being formed of residents of the city and county of Phila- 
delphia, had a better knowledge of the Society of Friends 
and of their individual characters than the members of 
Congress assembled from the various parts of the country, 
and ought to liave protected them. But instead of this, they 
caused these arrests of their fellow-citizens to be made 
with unrelenting severity, and from the 1st to the 4th day 
of September, 1777, the party was taken into conijneraent 
in the Mason's Lodge, in Phil.adelphia. 

" On tlie minutes of Congress of .3d September, 1777, it 
appears that a letter was received by them from George 
liryan. Vice President of the Supreme Executive Council, 
dated 2d September, stating that arrests had been made of 
persons inimical to the American States, and desiring the 
advice of Congress particularly whether Augusta and Win- 
chester, in Virginia, would not be proper places at wliich 
to secure prisoners." * * * * * * 

" Congress must have been aware that it was becoming 
a case of very unjust suflTering, for they passed their reso- 
lution of 6th September, 1777, as follows : 

" ' That it be recommended to ihe Supreme Executive 
Council of the State of Pennsylvania to hear what the said 
remonstrants can allege to remove the suspicions of their 
being disaflected or dangerous to the United States.' 

" But the Supreme Executive Council on the same day, 
referring to the above, 

" ' Resolved, Tliat the President do write to Congress to 
let them know that the Council has not time to attend to 
that business in the present alarming crisis, and that they 
were, agreeably to the recommendation of Congress, at the 
moment the resolve was brought into Council, disposing of 
everything forthe departure of the prisoners.' " 

" As the recommendation of Congress of the 6th of Sep- 
tember, to give the prisoners a hearing, was refused by the 
Supreme Executive Council, the next minute made by Con- 
gress was as follows : 

'"In Congress, 8th September, 1777. 

" ' Resolved, Tliat it would be improper for Congress to 
enter into a hearing of the remonstrants or other prisoners in 
the Mason's Lo(Jge, they being inhabitants of Pennsylvania; 
and therefore, as the Council declines givii.g them a hear- 
ing for the reasons assigned in their letter to Congress, that 
it be recommended to said Council to order the immediate 
departure of such of the said prisoners as yet refuse to 
swear or afiirm allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania, to 
Staunton, in Virginia. 

" The remonstrances made to Congress, and to the Su- 
preme Executive Council, being unavailing, the parties 
arrested were ordered to depart for Virginia, on the 11th 
September, 1777, when, as their last resource, they applied, 
under the laws of Pennsylvania, to be brought before tlie 
judicial court by writs oC habeas corpus. 

"The departure of the prisoners was committed to the 
care of Colonel Jacob Morgan, of Bucks county, and they 
were guarded by six of the light-horse, commanded by 
Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell, who were to obey 
the dispatches from the Board of War, of which General 
Horatio Gates was president, directed to the lieutenants of 
the counties through which the prisoners were to pass. 



" The writs of habeas corpus, on liciiig proscntrd to tlio 
Chief Justice, were marked liy liim, 'Allowed ipv 'I'lioiiins 
McKciiii,' and they were served on tlie otl'iccrs wlio liad 
tlie prisoners in eiistody, when tliey lia<l been tiikr-n on llielr 
journey as tar as Ui-adinft, rennsvlvania, on the llih day of 
Septeinlier, hut the otfieers refused to obey thi'ni. 

"It appears by tlie Journal of the Sil|'ireine Kvecutive 
Council of the I6lh of Sipteniher, that Alexander Neshltt, 
one of the otiicers, had previously obtained inlorination 
about tlie writs, and made a report of them ; when the 
Pennsylvania Lefjislature, at the instance of the Supreme 
Execii^live Council, passed a law on the Kith of Septem- 
ber, 1777, to suspend the habeas corpus net ; and although 
it was an ca.' post facto law, as it related to their ease, the 
Supreme Executive Council on tliat day ordered the same 
to be carried into effect." 

Continuing the history of this case, wc find 
that— 

" Tlic party consisted of twenty persons, of whom sev- 
enteen were nietubers of the Society of Friends. They 
were ordered first to Staunton, then a" frontier town in tlie 
•western settlement of Virginia, but alterwards to IkmIc- 
tained at Winchester, wliere tliey were kept in partial eoii- 
finemeiit nearly eiglit months, without provision lieing 
made for their support; for the only reference to this was 
by a resolution of tlie Supreme Executive Council of I'eun- 
sylvania, dated April 8, 1778, as follows: 

" ' Orilcrci!, That the whole expeii.ses of arrcstinj; and 
•confining the prisoners sent to Virginia, the expenses of 
their journey, and all other incidental charges, be paid by 
the said prisoners.' 

•' During the stay of the exiles at Winchester, nearly all 
of them sutllied greatly from circumstances unavoidable 
iu their situation — from anxiety, separation from their fam- 
ilies, left unprotected in Philadelpliia, then a besieged city, 
liable at any time to be starved out or taken by assault; 
while from sickness and exposure during the winter sea- 
son, in accommodations entirely unsuitable for them, two 
of their number departed tliis life in the month of March, 

1778." r 

Thus, Mr. President, we find that the writ of 
habeas corpus was suspended by the authorities of 
Pennsylvania, during the Revohition, in tiiecase 
of persons who were considered dangerous and 
inimical to the country. A writ was taken out 
and served upon the officers, and they refused to 
surrender the prisoners, or even to give them a 
hearing. If the Senator from Kentucky had do- 
sired an extreme case, and wished to make a dis- 
play of his legal and historical information, it 
would have been very easy for him to have cited 
this case — much more aggravated, much more ex- 
travagant, much more striking, than the one in 
regard to which he was speaking. Let it be re- 
membered, also, that this case, although it seems 
to be an extravagant and striking one, occurred 
during the war of the Revolutioti, under General 
Washington, before we had a President. We find 
that at that time the writ of habeas corpus was sus- 
pended, and twenty individuals were denied even 
the privilege of a hearing, because they were con- 
sidered inimical and dangerous to the liberties of, 
the country. In tlie midst of the Revolution, 
when the writ of habeas corpus was as well under- 
stood as it is now, when they were familiar with 
its operation in Great Britain, when they knew 
and understood all the rights and privileges it 
granted to the citizen, we find that the Legislature 
of Pennsylvania passed a law repealing the power 
to issue the writ of habeas coj-pus, and went back 
and relieved the officers who refused to obey the 
writs, and indemnified them from the operation of 
any wrong they might have done. If the Senator 
wanted a strong and strikingcasc, one that would 
bear comment, why did he not go back to this case, 



; that occurred in tlie Revolution, during the very 
, period referred to by him .' Hut no; nil ilies.' cusea 
I seem to have been forgotten, and the mind wna 
j fixed do wnii|ion ft case of recent occurrence. Th' re 

I is a great similarity in the cascH. The one to whicli 

I I have alluded, however, is ii much fllronger case 
[than that referred to by the Senator. It was in 
^ Philadeljihia, where Coiigres.'i was sitting; it was 
j in Pennsylvania where these riersons, who were 

considered inimical to the freedom of the country, 

were found. Congress was appealed to, but Con- 

j gress executed the order; and the Legislature of 

I Pennsylvania, afterilwasexecuted, ilnnigh it was 

I in violation of the right to the writ of /ifl<;f(/sfoi7)i(j, 

I passed a law indemnifying the persons tliat had 

violated it, anti made it retrospective in its oper- 

ation. What is our case now .' Wc; are not strug- 

'gling for the cstablishmentof our nationality, but 

I we are now struggling for the existence of the Gov- 

i eminent. Suiiiiosc the writ of haiias cor]>us has 

I been suspended: the question arises whether it was 

1 not a justifiable suspension at the time; and dught 

we not now to indorsesimply what we would have 

done if we had been here ourselves at the time the 

power was exercised .' 

The impression is sought to be made on the 
public mind that this is the first and only case 
where the power hasbeen exercised. I haveshown 
that there is one tenfold more striking, that oc- 
curred during our struggle for independence. Is 
this the first time that persons in the United States 
have been placed under martial law.' In 1815, 
when New Orleans was about to be sacked, when 
a foreign foe was upon the soil of Louisiana, New 
Orleans was put under martial law, and judge 
Hall was made a prisoner because he attempted 
to interpose. Is there a man here, or in the country, 
who condemns General Jackson for the exercise 
of the power of proclaiming martial law in 1815.' 
Could that city have been saved without placing it 
under martial law, and malcing Judge Hall submit 
to it.^ I know that General Jackson submitted to 
be arrested, tried, and fined $1,000; but what did 
Congress do in tliat case.' It did just what we 
are called on to do in this case. By the restora- 
tion of his fine — an act passed byan overwhelming 
majority in the two Houses of Congress — the 
nation said " we approve what you did." Sup- 
pose, Mr. President, (and it may have been ihe 
case,) that the existence of the Government de- 
[lendcd upon the protection and successful defense 
of New Orleans; and suppose, too, it was in vio- 
lation of the strict letter of the Constitution for 
General Jackson to place New Orleans under 
martial law, but without placing it under martial 
i^iw the Government would have been overthrown: 
is there any reasonable, any intelligent man in or 
out of Congress who would not indorse and ac- 
knowledge the exercise of a power which was 
indispensable to the existence and maintenance of 
the Government.' The Constitution was likely 
to be overthrown, the law was about to be vio- 
lated, and the Government tramjded under foot; 
and when it becomes necessary to prevent this, 
even by exercising a power that comes in conflict 
with the Constitution in lime of peace, it should and 
ought to be exercised. If General Jackson had 
lost the city of New Orleans, and the Government 



6 



\ 



had been overthrown by a refusal on Iiis part to 
place Judge Hall and the city of New Orleans 
under martial law, he ought to have lost his head. 
But he acted as a soldier; he acted as a patriot; 
he acted as a statesman; as one devoted to the in- 
stitutions and the preservation and the existence 
of his Government; and the grateful homage of a 
nation was his reward. 

Then, sir, the power which has been exercised 
in this instance is no new thing. In great emer- 
gencies, when the life of a nation is in peril, when 
its very existence is flickering, to question too 
nicely, to scan too critically, its acts in the very 
midst of that crisisjwhen the Government is likely 
to be overthrown, is to make war upon it, and to 
try to paralyze its energies. If war js to be made 
upon those wiio seem to violate the laws of the 
United States in their efforts to preserve the Gov- 
ernment, wait until the country passes out of its 
peril; wait until the country is relieved from its 
difficulty; wait until the crisis passes by, and then 
come forward, dispassionately, and ascertain to 
what extent the law has been violated, if indeed 
it has been violated at all. 

A great ado has been made in reference to the 
Executive proclamation calling out the militia of 
the States to the extent of seventy-five thousand 
men. That call was made under the authority of 
the act of 1795, and is perfectly in accordance with 
the law. It has been decided by the Supreme 
Court of the United States that that act is consti- 
tutional, and that the President alone is the judge 
of the question whether the exigency has arisen. 
This decision was made in the celebrated case of 
Martin vs. Mott. The opinion of the court was 
delivered by Judge Story. Let me read from the 
opinion of the court: 

" It has not been denied here that the act of 1795 is within 
the constitutional authority of Congress, or that Congress 
may not lawtiilly provide for cases of imminent danger of 
invasion, as well as for cases where !*n invasion has actually 
taken place. In our opinion, there is no ground for a doubt 
on this point, even if it had been relied on ; for the power 
to provide for repelling invasion includes the power to pro- 
vide against the attempt and danger of invasion, as the 
necessary and proper means to etfectnate the object. One 
of the best means to repel invasion is to provide the requi- 
site force for action before the invader liimself has reaclied 
the soil. 

" The power thus confided by Congress to the PresidenJ 
is, doubtless, of a very high and delicate nature. A free 
people are naturally jealous of the exercise of military 
power; and the powerto call the militia into actual service 
is certainly felt to be one of no ordinary magnitude. But 
it is nor a power which can be executed without a corre- 
spondent responsibility. It is, in its terms, a limited power, 
confined to eases of actual invasion, or of imminent danger 
of invasion. If it be a limited power, the question arises, 
by whom is the exigency to be judged of and decided.' Is 
the President the sole and exclusive judge whether the 
exigency has arisen, or is it to be considered as an open 
question, upon which every officer, to whom the orders of 
the President are addressed, may decide for himself, and 
equally open to be contested by every militia man who 
shall refuse to obey the orders of the President.' We are 
all of opinion that the authority to decide whether the ex- 
igency has arisen belongs exclusively to the President, and 
that his decision is conclusive upon all other persons. We 
think that this construction necessarily results from the 
nature of the power itself and from the manifest object 
contemplated by the act of Congress. The power itself is 
to be exercised upon sudden emergencies, upon great oc- 
casions of state, and under circumstances which may be 
vital to the existence of the U)iion. A prompt and unlies- 
itating obedience to orders is indispensable to the complete 
attainment of the object. The service is a military service, 



and the command of a military nature ; and in such cases' 
every delay and every obstacle to an efficient and immedi- 
ate compliance necessarily tend to jeopard the public in- 
terests." — Martin vs. Mott, 12 Wheaton's Reports, p. 29. 

We see, then, tl-tat the f)ower is clear as to- 
calling out the militia; we see that we have pre- 
cedents for the suspension of the writ of habeas 
corpus. 

The next objection made is, that the President 
had no power to make additions to the Navy and 
Army. I say, in these two instances, he is justified 
by the great law of necessity. At the time, I 
believe it was necessary to the existence of the 
Government; and it being necessary, he had a 
right to exercise all those powers that, in his judg- 
ment, the crisis demanded for the maintenance of 
the existence of the Government itself. The sim- 
ple question — if you condemn the President for 
acting in the absence of law — is, do you condemn 
the propriety of his course; do you condemn the 
increase of the Army; do you condemn the in- 
crease of the Navy? If you oppose the measure 
simply upon the ground that the Executive called 
them forth anticipating law, what will you do- 
now.' The question presents itself at this time,- 
is it not necessary to increase the Army and the 
Navy ? If you condemn the exercise of the power 
of the Executive in the absence of law, what will 
you do noviT, as the law-making power, when it 
is manifest that the Army and Navy shotted be 
increased? You make war upon the Executive 
for anticipating the action of Congress. What 
do gentlemen do now, when called upon to sup- 
port the Government? Do they do it? They 
say the President a,nticipated the action of Con- 
gress. Does not the Government need an in- 
crease of the Army and the Navy? Where do 
gentlenien stand now? Are they for it? Do they 
sustain the Government ? Are they giving it a 
helping hand? No; they go back and find fault 
with the exercise of a power that they say waS) 
without law; but now, when they have the power 
to make the law, and when the necessity is ap- 
parent, they stand back and refuse. Where does 
that place those who take that course? It places- 
them against the Government, and against placing, 
the means in the hands of the Government to 
defend and perpetuate its existence.. The object 
is apparent, Mr. President. We had enemies of 
the Government here last winter; in my opinion, 
we have eneiiiics of the Government here now. 

I said that I agreed with the Senator from Ken- 
tucky that there was a design — a deliberate de- 
termination — to change the nature and character 
of our Government. Yes, sir, it has been the de- 
sign for a long time. All the talk about slavery, 
and compromise has been but a jiretext. We had 
a long disquisition, and a very feeling one, frorn. 
the Senator from Kentucky. He became pathetic 
in the hopelessness of compromises. Did not the 
Senator from California [Mr. Latham] the other 
day show unmistakably that it was not compro- 
mise they wanted? I will add, that compromise 
was the thing they most feared; and their great 
effort was to get out of Congress before any com^ 
promise could be made. At first, their cry was. 
peaceable secession and reconstruction. They 
talked not of compromise; andji repeat^ their. 



greatest d rend and fcfir was, that snmet!iinf» would 
be aijrocd U|>()ii; lluit llioir last niul only pretf'xt 
would be swept from iindLT tl\eiu, and that tliey 
would stand before the country naked and ex- 
posed. 

The Senator from California pointed out to you 
a number of them who stood here and did not 
vote for certain propositions, and those proposi- 
tions were lost. AVhat was the action l)cfore the 
committee of thirteen ? Why did not that com- 
mittee agree ? Some of the most ultra men from 
the North were members of that committee, and 
they proposed to amend the Constitution so as to 
provitle that Congress in the future never should 
interfere with the subject of slavery. Tiie com- 
mittee failed to agree, and some of its members 
at once telegraphed to their States that they must 
go out of tile Union at once. Hut after all that 
transjiired in the early part of the session, what 
was done? We know 'what the argument has 
been; in times gone by I met it; I have heard it j 
again and again. It has been said that one great 
object was, first to abolish slavery in the District 
of Columbia and the slave trade between the 
States, as a kind of initiative measure; next, to 
exclude it from the Territories; and when the free 
States constituted three fourths of all the States, so 
as to have power to change the Constitution, they 
would amend the Constitution so as to give Con- 
gress power to legislate upon tlic subject of sla- 
very in the States, and expel it from the States 
in which it is now. Has not that been the argu- 
ment? Now, how does the matter stand ? At the 
last session of Congress seven States withdrew, 
it may be said that eight withdrew; reducing the 
remaining slave States down to one fourth of the 
whole number of States. The charge has been 
made, that whenever the free States constituted a 
majority in the Congress of the United States, suf- 
ficient to amend the Constitution, they would so 
amend it as to legislate upon the institution of 
slavery within the States, and that the institution 
of slavery M'ould be overthrown. This has been 
thcargument; it has been repeated again andagain; 
and hence the great struggle about the Territories. 
The argument was, we wanted to prevent the cre- 
ation of free States; we did not want to be reduced 
down to that point where, under the sixth article 
of the Constitution, three fourths could amend 
the Constitution so as to exclude slavery from the 
States. This has been the great point; tliis has 
been the rampart; this has been the very point to 
which it has been urged that the free States wanted 
to pass. Now, how does the fact stand ? Let us 
•' render unto Casar the things that are Cmsar's. " 
We reached, at the last session, just the point 
■where we were in the power of the free States; 
and then what was done ? Instead of an amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States con- 
ferring power upon Congress to legislate upon the 
subject of slavery, what was done? This joint 
resolution was passed by a two-thirds majority 
in each House: • 

" Resolved by the Senate and House of Representative!: of 
the United States of America in Coni^rcss assonhtcd, TliiU 
till! following article be proposcil to tlie l,ri;isl;iMiri;s of the 
sevenil Slates, as an aineiuliiK'!it to tli.j ("oiisliuuioii of the 
United States, whicii, when ratiried by three fourths of said 



I.pgixIntiirPM, flinll (if vnlfil, (o ntl Intent* and purpoup*, u 

part of (lie said ('oii-llliMluii, vi/. : 

"AiiT. i;t. No aiiP'iiilmi'iil nliiill Ijp mad"- to Uh* Coiii'tl- 
tiuloii wlilrli will aiillioriy.r or glvf lo CoiiKn-Bit tin- powrr 
to abolish, or Inli-rli-n-, Wllhlii any ."^Inlr. with llic donnnllc 
Institnlioiis tliiTrof, Ini'liidlni; that of pirmunK held to iicr- 
vice ur labor by the law^t of Hald Stuti!." 

Is not that very conclusive .' Here is an amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States to 
make the Constitution uifam<'iulai>l<- Ujion tliut 
subject, as it is upon some othe-r sulgrcts; ihiit 
Congress, in the future, should havi? no power to 
legislate on the subject of slavery witliin ilie States. 
Talk about " compromise," and about the settle- 
ment of this rjuistion; how can you settle it more 
substantially? How can you get a guarantee that is 
more binding than such an ami'iidiiP'Ml to the Con- 
stitution? This places the institution of slavery in 
the States entirely beyond the control of Congress. 
Why have not the Legislatures that talk about " re- 
construction" and "compromise" luid "guarnn- 
tecs," taken up this amr; mime nt to the Constitution 
and adopted it? Soirie Stateshaveadopted it. How 
many southern States have done so? Take my 
own State, for instance. Instead of accepting guar- 
antees protecting them in all future tiine against 
the legislation of Congress on the subject of sla- 
very, they undertake to pas.s ordinances violating 
the Constitution of the country, and taking the 
State out of the Union and into the southern con- 
federacy. It is evident to me that with many the 
talk about compromise and the settlemeut of this 
question is mere pretext, especially with tiiose 
who understand the question. 

What more was done at the last session of 
Congress, when the North had the power? Let 
us tell the truth. Three territorial bills were 
brought forward and passed. You remember in 
1847, when the agitation arose in reference to the 
Wilmot proviso. You remember in 185Uthe con- 
test about slavery prohibition in the Territories. 
You remember in 1854 the excitement in reference 
to the Kansas Nebraska bill, and the power con- 
ferred on the Legislature by it. Now we have a 
constitutional amendment, proposed at a time 
when the Republicans have the power; and at the 
same time they come forward with three territo- 
rial bills, and in neither of those bill* can be found 
any prohibition, so far as slavery is concerned, in 
the Territories. Colorado, Nevada, and Dakota, 
are organized without any prohibition of slavery. 
Rut what do you find in these bills? Mark, Mr. 
President, that there is no slavery prohibition; 
mark too, the languge of the sixth section, confer- 
ring power upon the Territorial Legislature: 

"Skc.6. And he it further enacted, That the legislative 
power of the Territory shall extend to all ri^ditfnl snbjrt-ts 
of legislation consistent with the Constitution of the United 
States and the provisions of this act ; but no law shall be 
passed iiUcrlVring with the primary disposal of the soil; no 
tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United Slates ; 
nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be 
taxed hishcr than the lands or other properly of residents ; 
nor sliaM any law be passed iinpairinj; the ri^-hls of private 
property ; nor shall any discrimination be made In taxing 
dill'erent kinds of property ; but all property subject to tax- 
ation shall be in proportion to tlie value of the property 
ta.\ed." 

Can there be anything more clear and conclu- 
sive? First, there is no prohibition; next, the 



8 



Legislature sliall have no power to legislate so 
as to impair the riglits of private property, and 
shall not tax one description of property higher 
than another. Now, Mr. President, right here I 
ask any reasonable, intelligent man throughout 
the Union, to take the amendment to the Con- 
stitution, take the three territorial bills, put them 
all together, and how much of the slavery ques- 
tion is left.' Is there any of it left.' Yetwehear 
talk about compromise; and it is said the Union 
must be broken up because you cannot get com- 
promise. Does not this settle the whole question .' 
There is no slavery prohibition by Congress, and 
the Territorial Legislatures are expressly forbid- 
den from legislating so as to impair the rights of 
property. 1 know there are some who are sin- 
cere in this talk about compromise; but there are 
Others who arc merely making it a pretext, who 
come here claiming something in the hope that it 
will be refused, and that then, upon that refusal, 
their States may be carried out of the Union. I 
should like to know how much more secure we 
can be in regard to this question of slavery. 
These three territorial bills cover every square 
inch of territory we have got; and here is an amend- 
ment to the Constitution embracing 'the whole 
question, so far as the States and the public lands 
of the United States are concerned. 

I am as much for compromise as any one can 
be; and there is no one who would desire more 
than myself to see peace and prosperity restored 
to the land; but when we look at the condition of 
the country, we find that rebellion is rife; that 
treason has reared it head. A distinguished Sen- 
ator from Georgia once said, " when traitors be- 
come numerous enough, treason becomes respect- 
able." Traitors are getting to be so numerous 
now that I suppose treason has almost got to be 
respectable; but God being willing, whether 
traitors be many or few, as I have hitherto waged 
war against traitors and treason, and in behalf of 
the Government which was constructed by our 
fathers, I intend to continue it to the end. [Ap- 
plause in the galleries.] 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Order! 

Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. Mr. President, 
we are in the midst of a civil war; blood lias been 
shed; life has been sacrificed. Who commenced 
it? Of that we will speak hereafter. I am speak- 
ing now of the talk about compromise. Traitors 
and rebels are standing with arms in theirhands, 
and it is said that we must go forward and com- 
promise with them. They are in the wrong; they 
are making war upon the Government; they are 
trying to upturn and destroy our free institutions. 
I say to them that the comjiromise I have to make 
under the existing circumstances is, "ground 
your arms; obey the laws; acknowledge the su- 

ijremacy of the Constitution — when you do that, 
[ will talk to you about compromises." All the 
compromise that I have to make is the compro- 
mise of the Constijtution of the United States. 
It is one of the best compromises that can be 
made. We lived under it from 1789 down to 
the 20lh of December, 1860, when South Carolina 
undertook logo outof the Union. Weprospered; 
we advanced in wealth, in commerce, in agricul- 
ture, in trade, in manufactures, in all the arts and 



sciences, and in religion, more than any people 
upon the face of God's earth had ever done be- 
fore in the same time. What better compromise 
do you want.' You lived under it until you got 
to be a great and prosperous people. It was made 
by our fathers, and cemented by their blood. 
When you talk to me about compromise, I hold 
up to you the Constitution under which you de- 
rived all your greatness, and which v/as made by 
the fathers of your country. It will protect you 
in all your rights. 

But it is said that we had better divide the coun- 
try and make a treaty and restore peace. If, under 
the Constitution which v/as framed by Washing- 
ton and Madison and the patriots of the Revolu- 
tion, we cannot live as brothers, as we have in 
times gone by, I ask can we live quietly under a 
treaty, separated as enemies? The same causes 
will exist; our geographical and physical position 
will remain just the same. Suppose you make a 
treaty of peace and division: if the same causes 
of irritation, if the same causes of division con- 
tinue to exist, and we cannot live as brothers in 
fraternity under the Constitution made by our 
fathers, and as friends in the same Government, 
how can we live in peace as aliens and enemies 
under a treaty? It cannot be done; it is imprac- 
ticable. 

But,Mr. President, I concur fully with the dis- 
tinguished Senator from Kentucky in the dislike 
expressed by him to a change in the form of our 
Government. He seemed to be apprehensive of a 
dictatorship. Pie feared there might be a change 
in the nature and character of our institutions. I 
could, if I chose, refer to many proofs to estab- 
lish the fact that there has been a design to change 
the nature of our Government. I could refer to 
Mr. Rhett; I could refer to Mr. Inglis; I could 
refer to various others to prove this. The Mont- 
gomery Daily Advertiser, one of the organs of the 
so-called southern confederacy, says: 

" Has it been a precipitate revolution.'' It lias not. With 
coolness and deliberation the subject bas been tliought of 
lor forty years ; for ten years it has been the all-absorbing 
tlicnie in political circles. From Maine to Mexico all the 
ditl'erent phases and forms of the question have been pre- 
sented to the people, until nothing else was thought of, 
nothing else spoken of, and nothing else taught in many of 
the political schools." 

This, in connection with other things, shows 
that this movement has been long contemplated, 
and that the idea has been to separate from and 
break up this Government, to change its nature 
and character; and now, after they have attempted 
the separation,if they can succeed, their intention 
is to subjugate and overthrow and make the other 
States submit to their form of government. 

To carry out the idea of the Senator from Ken- 
tucky, I want to show that there is conclusive 
proof of a design to change our government. 

I quote from the Georgia Chronicle: 

" Our own republican Government has failed midway in 
its trial, and with it have nearly vanished the hopes of 
those philantiiropists who, believin^in man's capacity for 
self-government, believed, therefor^ in spite of so many 
failures, in tlie practicability of a republic." 

" If this Government has gone down, "asks the 
editor, " what shall be its substitute?" And he 
answers by saying that, as to the present gener- 



9 



ntion, " it seems their only resort must be to a 
constitutional monarchy." Hence you sec the 
Senator and myself begin to agree in the propo- 
sition that the nature and character of the Gov- 
ernment are to bo clianged. 

William Howard Russcdl, the celebrated cor- 
respondent of the London Times, spent some time 
in boutii Carolina, and he writes: 

" From all (luartois liavc ponie to my oars tlie Rclioes ot' 
the saini.' voiei,'; it may hi; Iclgned, l)iit lliort; is no dlccord 
in tlic note, and it sounds in uotidtrfnl strmiKtli and mo- 
notony all over tliu c-oLintry. t^hadcs oC GeorKf IJI, ol' 
North, oCJoliiison, of all who contended ajainst the (;r<at 
rebellion which tore these colonies from KMKland,caii vou 
hear the chorus which rin!,'s throush the State of Marion, 
Sumter, and I'inckney, and not clap your ghostly hands 
in triumph ? That voice says, ' if we could only'gct one 
of the royal race of England to rule over us, we should hi; 
content!' Let there he no miseoueeption on this point. 
That sentiment, varied in a hinidred wavs, has been re- 
peated to me over and over again. 'I'here' is a general ad- 
mission that the means to such an end are wanting, and 
that the desire caimot ho gratified. 15ut the adniiiiition for 
nionarehial institutions on the I'inglisli model, for privilesed 
classes, and for a landed aristocracy and gentry, is undis- 
guised and apparently genuine. With the pride of having 
achieved their independence, is mingled in the South Car- 
olinian's heart a strange regret at the result and conse- 
quences, and many are they "who ' would go hack to-mor- 
row if we could.' An intense ali'ection for the IJritish 
connection, a love of British habits and customs, a respect 
for Hritish sentiment, law, authority, order, civilization 
and literature, prct-minently distinguish the inhabitants of 
this State," Sic. 

This idea was not confined to localities. It was 
extensively prevalent, though policy prompted 
its occasional repudiation. At a meeting of the 
people' of Bibb countj^, Georgia, the subject was 
discussed, and a constitutional monarchy was not 
recommended for the southern States, " as recom- 
mended by some of the advocates of immediate 
disunion." Here is evidence that the public itiind 
had been sought to be influenced in that direc- 
tion; but the people were not prepared for it. 
Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, during the delivery of 
a speech by Mr. A. H. Stephens, before the Le- 
gislature of that State, did not hesitate to prefer 
the form of the British Government to our own. 

Not long since — sometime in the month of May 
— I read in the Richmond Whig, published at tlie 
place where their government is now operating, 
the center from which they are directing their 
armies which are making war upon this Govern- 
ment, an article in which it is stated that rather 
than submit to the Administration now in power 
in the city of Washington, they would prefer 
passing under the constitutional reign of the ami- 
able Q-ueen of Great Britain. 1 agree, therefore, 
with the Senator from Kentucky, that there is a 
desire to change this Government. We see it 
einanating from every point in the South. Mr. 
Toombs was not willing to wait for the movenient 
of the people. Mr. Stephens, in his speech to the 
Legislature of Georgia, preferred the calling of a 
convention; but Mr. Toombs was unwilling to 
wait. Mr. Stephens was unwilling to sec any 
violent action in advance of the action of the peo- 
ple; but Mr. Toombs replied: " I will not wait; 
I will take the sword in my own hand, disregard- 
ing the will of the people, even in the shajje of a 
convention;" and history will record that he kept 
his word. He and others had become tired and 
dissati.sfied with a governmentof the people; they 



have lost confidence in man's rnpncity for Molf- 
governmenl;and furthermore, they would he will- 
ing to form an nlliunce witii GrciU Hritnin; or, if 
Great i5ritain were slow in forming the t\llianci-, 
with France; and they know lliey can miceeed 
there, on account of the hate and malignity which 
exist between the two nations. They wouM be 
willing to pass under tlie reign of the Mmmbliand 
conslitutimial Queen of Great Britain ! Sir, I love 
woman, and woman's reign in the right place; but 
when we talk about the aniitiblr and ac.conipli«hed 
Ciueen of Great Britain, I must say that all our 
women are ladies, all are quei'n.s, nil nn- equal to 
Clueen Victoria, and many of them greatly her 
superiors. They desire no such thing; nor do we. 
Hence we see whither this movement is tending. 
It is a change of Government;and in thnttheSen- 
ator and myself most fully concur. 
I The Senator from Kentucky was wonderfully 
alarmed at the idea of a " dictator," and replied 
with as much point as possible to the Si.-nator 
from Oregon, who made the suggestion. But, sir, 
what do we find in the llichinond Examiner, 
published at the seat of government of the so- 
called confederate States.' 

" In the late debates of the congress of this confederacy, 
Mr. Wright, of Georgia, showed a true appreciation of the 
crisis when he advocated the grant of power in the presi- 
dent tliat would enable him to make immediate det'ense of 
Kiehmond, and to bring the whole I'orce of tlie confederacy 
to bear on the afl'airs of Virginia. It is here tliat the fate of 
the confederacy is to be decided ; and the time is too short 
to permit red tape to interfere with public safely. No 
power in e.vecutive hands can be too great, no discretion 
too absolute, at such moments as these. AVe need a dic- 
tator. Let lawyers talk when the world has time to hear 
them. Now let the sword do its work. Usurpations of 
power by the chief, for the preservation of the people from 
robbers and murderers, will be reckoned as genius and 
patriotism by all sensible men in the world now, and by 
every historian that will judge the deed herealter." 

The articles of their leading papers, the Whig 
and the Exarniner, and the speeches of their lead- 
ing men, all show unmistakably that their great 
object is to change the character of the Govern- 
ment. Hence we come back to the proposition 
that it is a contest whether the people shall govern 
or not. I have here an article that appeared in 
the Memphis Bulletin, of my own State, from 
which it appears that under this reign of secession, 
this reign of terror, this disintegrating element 
that is destructive of allgood,and theaccomplisher 
of nothing that is right, they have got things be- 
yond their control: 

" In times like these, there must be one ruling power to 
which all others must yield. ' In a multitude of counsel- 
ors,' saith the Bonk of Books, 'there issal'etj;' but no- 
where arc we told, in history or revel.ition, tiiat there is 
aiigiit of safety in a multitude of rulers. Any ' rule of action,' 
someiimes called the ' lali,' is better than a multitude of 
contlieling, irreconcilable statutes. Any one head is belter 
than forty, each of which may conceive itself the nonpareil, 
jiar excellence, supreme ' caput' of all civil and niilitury 
atl'airs. 

" Let Governor Harris be king, if need be, and Baugh a 
despot." 

" Let Governor Harris be king, and Baugh a 
i despot," says the Bulletin. Whois Baugh.' The 
rnayor of iNIemphis. The mob reign of terror 
I gotten up under this doctrine of secession is so 
I great that we find that they are appealing to tlie 
I one-man power They are even willing to make 



/ 



10 



the mayor of the city a despot, and Isham G. 
Harris, a little petty Governor of Tennessee, a 
king. He is to be made king over the State that 
contains the bones of the immortal, the illustri- 
ous Jackson. Isham G. Harris a king! Or Jeff. 
Davis a dictator, and Isham G. Harris one of his 
satraps. He a kingover the free and patriotic peo- 
ple of Tennessee ! Isham G. Harris to be my king. 
Yes, sir, my king! I know the man. I know 
his elements. I know the ingredients that con- 
stitute the compound called Isham G. Harris. 
King Harris to be my master, and the master of 
the people that I have the proud and conscious 
satisfaction of representing on this floor ! Mr. 
President, he should not be my slave. [Applause 
in the galleries.] 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Order ! A 
repetition of the offense will compel the Chair to 
order the galleries to be cleared forthwith. The 
order of the Senate must and shall be preserved. 
No demonstrations of applause or of disappro- 
bation will be allowed. "The Chair hopes not to 
be compelled to resort to the extremity of clear- 
the galleries of the audience. 

Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. I was proceed- 
ing with this line of argument to show that in the 
general proposition that there was a fixed determ- 
ination to change the character and nature of the 
Government, the Senator from Kentucky and my- 
self agree; and so far I think I have succeeded 
very well. And now, when we are looking at the 
elements of which this southern confederacy is 
composed, it may be well enough to examine the 
principles of the elements out of which a govern- 
ment is to be made that they prefer to this. We 
have shown, so far as the slavery question is con- 
cerned, that the whole question is settled; and it 
is now shown to the American people and the 
world that the people of the southern States have 
now got no right which they said they had lost 
before they went out of this Union; but, on the 
contrary, many of their rights have been dimin- 
ished, and oppression and tyranny have been in- 
augurated in their stead. Let me ask you, sir, 
to-day, and let me ask the nation, what right has 
any State in this so-called confederacy lost under 
the Constitution of the United States? Let me 
ask each individual citizen in the United States, 
what right has he lost by the continuance of this 
Government based on the Constitution of the Uni- 
ted States? Is there a man North or South, East 
or West, who can put his finger on one single 
privilege, or one single right, of which he has been 
deprived by the Constitution or Union of these 
States? Can he do it? Can he touch it ? Can 
he see it? Can he feel it? No, sir; there is no 
one right that he has lost. How many rights and 
privileges, and how much protection have they 
lost by going out of the Union, and violating the 
Constitution of the United States? 

Pursuing this line of argument in regard to the 
formation of their government, let us take South 
Carolina, for instance, and see what her notions 
of government are. She is the leading spirit, and 
will constitute one of the master elements in the 
formation of this proposed confederate govern- 
ment. What qualifications has South Carolina 
affixed upon members of her Legislature ? Let us . 



see what are her notions of government — a State 
that will contribute to the formation of the gov- 
ernment that is to exist hereafter. In the consti- 
tution of South Carolina it is provided that — 

"No person shall be eligible to a seat in the House of 
Representatives, unless he is a free white man, of the age 
of twenty-one years, and hath been a citizen and resident 
of this State three years previous to his election. If a res- 
ident in the election district, he shall not be eligible to a 
seat in the House of Kepresentatives, unless he be legally 
seized and possessed, in his own rigiit, of a settled freehold 
estate of five hundred acres of land and ten negroes." 

This is the notion that South Carolina has of 
the necessary qualifications of a member of the 
lower branch of the State Legislature. Now, I 
desire to ask the distinguished Senator from Ken- 
tucky — who seems to be so tenacious about com- 
promises, about rights, and about the settlement 
of this question, and who can discover that the 
Constitution has been violated so often and so 
flagrantly by the Administration now in power, 
yet never can see that it has been violated any- 
where else — if he desires to seek under this South 
Carolina government for his lost rights? I do 
not intend to be personal? I wish he were in 
his seat, for he knows that 1 have the greatest 
kindness for him. I am free to say, in connec- 
tion with v/hat I am about to observe, that I am 
a little selfish in this; because if I lived in South 
Carolina, with these disabilities or qualifications 
affixed upon a member, I would not be eligible 
to a seat in the lower branch of the Legislature. 
That would be a poor place for me to go and 
get my rights; would it not? I doubt whether 
the Senator from Kentucky is eligible to-day to a 
seat in the lower branch of the Legislature of 
South Carolina. I do not refer to him in any 
other than the most respectful terms, but I doubt 
whether he would be qualified to take a seat in 
the lower branch of her Legislature. I should 
not be, and I believe I am just as good as any 
who do take seats there. 

In looking further into the constitution of South 
Carolina, in order to ascertain what are her prin- 
ciples of government, what do we find? We find 
it provided that, in the apportionment of these 
representatives, the whole number of white in- 
habitants is to be divided by sixty-two, and every 
I sixty-second part is to have one member. Then 
all the taxes are to be divided by sixty-two, and 
every sixty-second part of the taxes is to have 
one member also. Hence we see that slaves, con- 
stituting the basis of property, would get the 
lai-gest amount of representation ; and we see that 
property goes in an equal representation to all the 
numbers, while those numbers constitute a part 
of the property-holders. That is the basis of their 
representation. 

Sir, the people whom I represent desire no such 
form of govei-nment. Notwithstanding they have 
been borne down; notwithstanding thei-e has been 
an army of fifty-five thousand men created by the 
Legislature; notwithstanding $5,000, 000 of money 
has been appropriated to be expended against the 
Union; and notwithstanding the arms manufiic- 
tured by the Government, and distributed among 
the States for the protection of the people, have 
been denied to them by this little petty tyrant of 
a king, and are now turned upon the Government 



11 



for its overthrow nnd ilestrnction, those pooplc, 
when left to tliemselves to carry out their own 
government an(' tlie honest dictates of their own 
consciences, will be found to be opposed to this 
revolution. 

Mr. President, wiiile tiie congress of the con- 
federate States was engnged inilic formation of 
their constitution, I find a protest from Soutli 
Carolina against a derision of tliat congress in 
relation to the slave trade, in the Clmrlcstbn Mer- 
cury, of February 13. It is written by L. W. 
Spratt to "Hon. John Perkins, delegate from 
Louisiana." It begins in this wny: 

" From the abstract of the constitution for the provisional 
government, publisliod in the paper.-) this moniini, it ap- 
pears that the slave trade, except with the slave States of 
North America, shall be prohibited. The cont;iess, tliere- 
fore not content with the laws of the late United States 
against it, which, it is to be presumed, wore rcadopted, 
have unalterably fixed the subject, by a. provision of the 
constitution." 

He goes on and protests. We all know that 
that constitution is made for the day, just for the 
time being, a mere tub thrown out to the whale, 
to amuse and entertain the public mind for a time. 
We know this to be so. But in making his argu- 
rnent what does he say? Mr. Spratt, a commis- 
sioner who went to Florida, a member of the 
convention that took the State of South Carolina 
out of the Union, says in this protest: 

" The South is now in the formation of a slave republic. 
This, perhaps, is not admitted generally. There are many 
contented to believe that the South, as a geographical sec- 
tion, is in mere assertion of its independence ; that it is 
instinct with no especial truth— pregnant of no distinct 
social nature ; that for some unaccountable reason, the 
two sections have become opposed to each other ; tliat for 
reasons equally insufiicient, there is disagreement between 
the people that direct them ; and that from no overruling 
necessity, no impossibility of coexistence, but as mere 
matter of policy, it has been considered best for tlie South 
to strike out for herself, and establish an independence of 
lier own. This, I fear, is an inadequate conception of the 
controversy," 

This indicates the whole scheme. 

"The contest is not between the North and South as 
geographical sections, for between such sections merely 
there can he no contest; nor between the people of the 
North and the people of the South, for our relations have 
been pleasant; and on neutral grounds there is still nothing 
to estrange us. We eat together, trade together, and prac- 
tice yet, in intercourse, with great respect, the courtesies 
of common life. But tiie real contest is between the two 
forms of society which have become established, the one 
at the North, and the other at the South." 

The protest continues: 

"With that perfect economy of resources, that just ap- 
plication of power, that concentration of forces, that secu- 
rity of order which results to slavery from the permanent 
direction of its best intelligence, there is no other form of 
human labor that can stand against it, and it will build 
itself a home, and erect for itself at some point within the 
present limits of the southern States, a structure of im- 
perial power and grandeur — a glorious confederacy of States 
that will stand aloft and serene for ages amid the anarchy 
of democracies that will reel around it." * * « * 

" But it may be that to this end another revolution may 
be necessary. It is to be apprehended that this contest be- 
tween democracy and slavery is not yet over. It is certain 
that both forms of society exist within the limits of the sonth- 
eni States; both are distinctly developed within the limits 
of Virginia; and there, whether we perceive the factor not, 
the war already rages. In that State there are about live 
hundred thousand slaves to about one million of whites ; 
and as at least as many slaves as masters are necessary to 



Ilie conHtilulInn i.fHiave Horlely, nUml nve hundred thou 
siind ol the while popuhiiloii are In le:(itlmiit,; rclutlun ii, 
the slaves, and the re»t are In cxceits." 

Hence we sec the propriety of Mr. Mason's 
letter, in which he declared llwit nil tlir)Hc who 
would not vote for .secession muHl leave the Suite, 
and thereby you get clear of liic excess of whilo 
population over slaves. They must emigrate. 

"Like ancxcesH of alkali or acl.l In ch.-mhul i-xpcrt- 
ments, Ihey are unfixed in the social compound. Wahuut 
legitiiiiale connection with the slave, ilicy are in comixiU- 
tion with liiiii." ' 

The protest continues: 

"And even in this Si.ate [.South Carolina] the ultimalo 
result is not determined. The slave condition here would 
seem to be established. There Is here an cxcchh of on.- 
hundred and twenty ihonsand slaves; and here In fairly 
exhibited the normal nature of the Institution. The nili- 
eers of the State are .slaveowners, and the represcnlaUves 
of slaveowners. In their public ocu thoy exhibit the con- 
sciousness of a superior position. Without imuHual Indi- 
vidual ability, tliey exhibit the elevation of tone and com- 
posure of public sentiment proper to a m:u<ter class. There 
is no appeal to the mass, for there Is no mass to appeal to ; 
there are no dem.igo^'ues, for there is no populace to breed 
them; judgcjs are iioi lorced upon the stump; governors are 
not to be dray^'ed biiore the people ; and when there is 
cause to act upon the fortunes of our social Institution, 
there is perhaps an unusual rcadincsii to meet It." 

Again : 

" It is probable that more abundant pauper labor may 
pour in, and it is to be feared that even in this State, the 
purest in its slave condition, democracy may gain a foot- 
hold, and that iiere also the contest lor existence may be 
waged between them. 

'■ It thus appears that the contest is not ended with a dis- 
solution of the Union, and that the agents of that contest 
still exist within the limits of the southern States. Thi; 
causes that have contributed to the deleat of slavery still 
occur; our slaves are still drawn off by higher prices to the 
West. Their is still foreign pauper labor ready to supply 
their place. Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, .Missouri, pos- 
sibly Tennessee and North Carolina, may lose their slaves, 
as New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, have done. 
In that condition they must recommence the contest. There 
is no avoiding that necessity. The systems cannot mix ; 
and thus it is that slavery, like the Tliraeian horse return- 
ing from the tield of victory, still bears a master on his 
back ; and, having achieved one revolution to escape de- 
mocracy at the North, it must still achieve anotlier to escape 
it at the South. That it will ultimately triumph none can 
doubt. It will become redeemed and vindicated, and the 
only question now to be determined is, shall there be an- 
other revolution to that end .'" * « * ♦ 

" If, in short, you shall own slavery as the source of your 
authority, and act for it, and erect, as you are com'inis- 
sioned to erect, not only a southern, but a slave republic, 
the work will be accomplished." * * • . 

" But if you shall not ; if you shall commence by ignor- 
ing slavery, or shall be content to edge it on by indirection ; 
if you shall exhibit care but for the republic, respect but 
a democracy; if you shall stipulate for the toleration of 
slavery, as an existing evil, by admitting assumptions to its 
prejudice, and restrictions to its power and progress, you 
reinauguiatc the blunder of 1789; you will combine States, 
vvhetlier true or not, to slavery ; you will have no tests of 
faith ; some will tind it to their interests to abandon it ; 
slave labor will be fettered; hireling labor will be free; 
your confederacy is again divided into antagonistic socie- 
ties ; tJie irrepressible conflict is again commenced ; and aa 
slavery can sustain the structure of a stable fiovernment, 
and will sustain such structure, and as it will sustain no 
structure but its own, anotlier revolution conies; but whetlier 
in the order and propriety of this, is gravely to be doubted." 

In another part of this protest, I find this par- 
agraph : 

" If the clause be carried into the permanent government, 
our whole movement is defeated. It will abolitionize the 
border slave States — it will brand our institution. Slavery 
cannot share a government with democracy— it cannot 



12 



bear a lirand upon it; tlience another revolution. It may 
be painful, but wfi must make it. Tlie Constitution can- 
not be chansed without. The border States, discharged of 
slavery, will oppose it. They are to be included by the 
concession ; they will be sutlicient to defeat it. It is doubt- 
ful if another movement will be as peaceful." 

In this connection, let me read the following 
paragraph from De Bow's Review: 

"^11 governincnt begins with usurpatioji, and is continued 
by force. Nature puts the ruling elements uppermost, and 
the masses below and .subject to those elements. Less than 
this is not government. The right to govern resides in a 
very small minority ; the duty to obey is inherent in the 
great mass of mankind." 

We find by an examination of all these articles, 
that the whole idea is to establisli a republic leased 
upon slavery exclusively, in which the greht mass 
of the people are not to participate. We find an 
argument made here against the admission of 
non-slaveholding States into their confederacy. If 
they refuse to admit a non-slaveholding State into 
the confederacy'', for the very same reason they 
will exclude an individual who is not a slave- 
holder, in a slaveholding State, from ]3artici]iating 
in the exercise of the powers of the Government. 
Take the whole argument through, and that is the 
jilain meaning of it. Mr.Spratt says, that sooner 
or later it will be done; and if the present revolu- 
tion will not accomplish it, it must be brought 
about even if another revolution has to take place. 
We see, therefore, that it is most clearly contem- 
]ilated to change the character and nature of the 
Government so far as they are concerned. They 
have lost confidence in the integrity, in the capa- 
bility, in the virtue and intelligence of the great 
mass of the people to govern. Sir, in the section 
of the country where I live, notwithstanding we 
reside in a slave State, we believe that freemen 
are capable of self-government. We care not in 
what shape their property exists; whether it is 
in the shape of slaves or otherwise. We hold 
that it is upon the intelligent free white people 
of the country that all Governments should rest, 
and by them all Governments should be con- 
trolled. 

I think, therefore, sir, that the President and 
the Senator from Kentucky have stated the ques- 
tion aright. This is a struggle between two forms 
cf government. It is a struggle for the existence 
of the Government we have. The issue is now 
fairly made. up. All who favor free govern- 
ment must stand with the Constitution, and in 
favor of the Union of the States as it is. That 
Union being once restored, the Constitution again 
becoming supreme and paramount, when peace, 
law, and order, shall be restored, when the Gov- 
eriunent shall be restored to its pristine position, 
then, if necessary^ we can come forward under 
proper and favorable circumstances to amend, 
change, alter, and modify the Constitution, as 
pointed out by the fifth article of the instrument, 
and thereby perpetuate the Government. This 
can be done, and this should be done. 

We have heard a great deal said in reference to 
the violation of the Constitution. The Senator 
from Kentucky seems exceedingly sensitive about 
violations of the Constitution. Sir, it seems to 
mc, admitting that his apprehensions are well 
founded, that a violation of the Constitution for 



the preservation of the Government, is more tol- 
erable than one for its destruction. In all these 
complaints, in all these arraignments of the pres- 
ent Government for violation of law and disre- 
gard of the Constitution, have you heard, as was 
forcibly and eloquently said by the Senator from 
Illinois, [Mr. Browning,] before me, one word 
uttered against violations of the Constitution and 
the trampling under foot of law by the States, or 
the party, now making war upon the Govern- 
ment of the United States.' Not one word, sir. 

The Senator enumerates what he calls viola- 
tions of the Constitution — the suspension of the 
writ of^ habeas corpus, the proclaiming of martial 
law, the increase of the Army and Navy, and the 
existing war; and then he asks, " Why all this?" 
The answer must be apparent to all. 

But first, let me supply a chronological table 
of events on the other side. 

December 27. Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinck- 
ney, at Charleston, seized. 

December 27. The revenue cutter William 
Aiken surrendered by her commander, and taken 
possession of by South Carolina. 

December 30. The United States arsenal at 
Charleston seized. 

January 2. Forts Pulaski and Jackson, and the 
United States arsenal, at Savannah, seized by 
Georgia troops. 

January 2. Fort Macon and the United States 
arsenal at Fayetteville seized by North Caro- 
lina. 

January 4. Fort Morgan and the United States 
arsenal at Mobile seized by Alabama. 

January 8. Forts Johnson and Caswell, at 
Smithville, seized by North Carolina; restored 
by order of Governor Ellis. 

January '.). The Star of the West, bearing re- 
inforcements for Major Anderson, fired at in 
Charleston harbor. 

January 12. Fort McRae, at Pensacola, seized 
by Florida. 

January 10. The steamer Marion seized by 
South Carolina; restored on the 11th. 

January 11. The United States arsenal at Baton 
Rouge, and Forts Pike, St. Philip, and Jackson, 
seized by Louisiana. 

January 11. Fort Barrancas and'the navy-yard 
at Pensacola seized by Florida. 

These forts cost $5,947,000, are pierced for one 
thousand and ninety-nine guns, and are adapted 
for a war garrison of five thousand four hundred 
and thirty men. 

We find, as was shown here the other day, 
and as has been shown on former occasions, that 
the State of South Carolina seceded, or attempted 
to secede, from this confederacy of States with- 
out cause. In seceding, her first step was a vio- 
lation of the Constitution. She seceded on the 
20th of last December, making the first innova- 
tion and violation of the law and the Constitu- 
tion of the country. On the 27th day of Decem- 
ber what did she do.' She seized Fort Moul- 
trie and Castle Pinckney, and caused your little 
band of sixty or seventy men under the command 
of Major Anderson to retire to a little pen in the 
ocean — Fort Sumter. She commenced erecting 
batteries, arraying cannon, preparing for wai-; in 



13 



effect, proclaiming: herself at once our enemy. 
Seceding A"oin tlic Union, inking Fort Sumter nnil 
Castle Pinckncy, driving your men in fact into 
Fort Sumter, I say were practical a<'ls of war. 
You need nut talk to me about tecliniealitie.s, and 
the distinction that you have got no war until 
Congress declares it. Congress could legalize it, 
or could make war, it is true; hut that was prac- 
tical war. Who begun it? Then, sir, if South 
Carolina secedes, withdraws from the Union, be- 
comes our common enemy, is it not the duty, the 
constitutional duly of the Government and of the 
President of tlic United States to make war, or to 
resist the attacks and assaults made by an enemy.' 
Is she not as much our enemy as Great Britain 
was in the revolutionary struggle.' Is she not 
to-day as much our enemy as Great Britain was 
during the war of 1812.' 

In this connection, I desire to read some re- 
marks made by the Senator from Missouri [Mr. 
Polk] in his speech the other day, in regard to 
this general idea of who made the war. He said, 
speaking of the war: 

"This has all been l>roug;ht about since the adjournment of 
the hist Coiii;re.ss — since the 4tli of March ; indeed, since 
the 15th of April. Congress has declared no war. The 
Conslilution of the United States says ' tliat Congress shall 
be authorized to declare war;' and yet, sir, though Con- 
gress has declared no war, we are in the midst of a war 
monstrous in its character, and hugely monstrous in its pro- 
portions. That war has been brought on by the President 
of the United States since the 4tli of March, of his own 
motion and of his own wrong; and under what circum- 
stances .' Before the close of the last Congress, as early as 
the month of January, secession was an accomplished fact. 
Before the close of the last Congress, as many States had 
seceded from the Union, or had claimed to secede, as liad 
on the loth of April; and yet the last Congress made no 
declaration of war; the last Congress passed no legislation 
calculated to carry on a war ; the last Congress rei'used to 
pass bills having this direction, or having any purpose of 
coercion. Now, sir, how has this war been brought on .' 1 
have said that, in my judgment, it h.as been brought on by 
the President of the United States; and a portion of the 
jjrocedure which has resulted in it is named in the pream- 
b'le of this joint resolution, which it is proposed that we 
shall approve and legalize." 

The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Powell] 
spoke in similar language. Alluding to the re- 
fusal of Kentucky to respond to the first call of 
the President for seventy-five thousand men, he 
said: 

" She believed that the calling forth of such an immense 
armament was for the purpose of making a war of subjuga- 
tion on the southern States, and upon that ground -siic 
refused to furnish the regiments called for. The Senator 
seems to be a litUe offended at the neutrality of Kentucky. 
Sir, Kentucky has assumed a position of neiurality, and I 
only hope that she may be able to maintain it. She has 
assumed that position because there is no impulse of her 
patriotic heart that desires her to imbrue her hands in a 
brother's blood, whether he be t'rom the North or the South. 
Kentucky looks upon this war as unholy, unrighteous, and 
unjust. Kentucky believes that this war, if carried out, 
can result in nothing else than a final disruption of this 
Confederacy. She hopes, she wishes, slie prays, that this 
Union may be maintained. She believes that cannot be 
done by force of arms ; that it must be done by compromise 
and c(uiciliation, if it can be done at all ; and henri'. being 
devoted truly to the Union, she desires to stay this war, 
and desires measures of peace to be presented for the ad- 
justment of our ditiiculties." 

I desired in this connection to place before the 
Senate the remarks of both the Senators from 
Kentucky and the Senator from Missouri, and to 
answer them at the same time. The Senator from 



Missouri says the war was brought <>n uince the 
4th of March by the Pr.Hidenl of the United .States 
of hi.s own moiion. The S.-nator from Kentucky 
[.Mr. PiiwKi.LJ pronounceM it on unjust, an un- 
righteous, and an unholy war. Sir, I think it is 
an unjust, an unrighteous, and tin unlioly war. 

Hut, sir, i conunenced enumerniiiig the facts 
with the view of siiowing whoccunmeneed tlie wnr. 
How do they .stand.' I have juHlHtat«d tliut South 
Carolina seceded — witlidrew from tlii- Confi;dcr- 
acy; and in the very act of withdrawing, mHc 
makes practical war upon the Government, anil 
becomes its enemy. The Star of the West, on 
the 7th of January, laden simply with provi.iions 
to supply those starving m>'n in Fort Sumter, 
attempted to enter the harijor, and was fired upon, 
and had to tack about, and leave tin; men in the 
forts to perish or do the best they could. We 
also find, that on the Hth of April General Heau- 
regard had an inti^rvic^w with Major Anderson, 
and made a proposition to him to surrender. 
Major Anderson stated, in substance, that he 
could do no such thing; tiutt he could not strike 
the colors of his country, and refused to surren- 
der; but he said, at the same time, that by the 
15th of the month his provisions would give out, 
and if not reinforced and supplied, starvation 
must take place. It seems that at this time, Mr. 
Pryor, from Virginia, was in Charleston. The 
convention of Virginia was silting, and it was 
j important that ihe cannon's roar should be heard 
j in the land. Virginia was to be taken out of the 
I Union , although a majority of the delegates in the 
I convention were elected against secession, and in 
favor of the Union. We find that after being in 
possession of the fact that by the 15th of the 
month, the garrison would be starved out and 
compelled to surrender, on the morning of the 
12th they commenced the bombardment, fired 
upon your fort and upon your men. They knew 
that in three days they would be compelled to 
surrender; but they wanted war. It was indis- 
pensable to produce an excitement in order to 
hurry Virginia out of the Union, and they com- 
menced the war. The firing was kept up until 
such time as the fort was involved in smoke and 
flames, and Major Anderson and his men were 
compelled to lie on the floor with their wet hand- 
kerchiefs to their faces to save them from sulTo- 
cation and death. Even in the midst of all this, 
they refused to cease their firing, but kept it up 
until he was compelled to surrender. 

Who then commenced the war.' Who struck 
the first blow.' Who violated the Constitution 
in the first place.' Who trampled the law under 
foot, and violated the law morally and legally? 
Was it not South Carolina, in seceding.' And yet 
you talk about the President having orought on 
the war by his own motion, when these facts are 
incontrovertible. No one dare attempt to assail 
them. But after Fort Sumter was attacked and 
surrendered, what do we find stated in .Montgom- 
ery when the news reached there? Here is the 
telegraphic announcement of the reception of the 
news there: 

"Montgomery, Friday, .Ipril 12, 1861. 

"An immense crowd seren.ided Pre>idint Davis and 
Secretary Walker, at the E.\chango Hotel to-nigUt." 



14 



Mr. Davis refused to address tlie audience, but 
his Secretary of War did. Tiie Secretary of 
War, Mr. Walker, said: 

" No man could tPll where the war this day commenced ' 
would end, but lie would prophesy that the tliig which now j 
flaunts tlie "breeze liere would float over the'doine of the ' 
old Capitol, at Washington, before the 1st of May. Let 
them try southern chivalry and test the extent of soutliern 
resources, and it miuht float eventirally over Faneuil Hall 
itself." " I 

What is the announcement.? We have attacked ' 
Fort Sumter, and it lias surrendered, and no one | 
can tell where this war will end. By the 1st ofi 
May our flag; will waive in triumph from the dome 1 
of the old Capitol at Washington, and ere long 
perhaps from Fanueil Hall in Boston. Then, was 
this war commenced by the President on his own 
motion? You say the President of the United 
States did wrong in ordering out seventy-five 
thousand men, and in increasing the Army and 
Navy under the exigency. Do we not know, in 
connection witli these facts, that so soon as Fort 
Sumter surrendered they took up the line of 
march for Washington > Do not some of us who 
were here know that we did not even go to bed 
very confidently and securely, for fear the city 
would be taken before the rising sun.' Has it not 
been published in the southern newspapers that 
Ben McCulloch was in readiness, with five thou- 
sand picked men, in the Slate of Virginia, to make 
a descent and attack the city, and take it.' 

What more do we find? We find that the 
congress of this same pseudo-republic, this same 
southern confederacy that has sprung up in the 
South, as early as the 6th of March passed a law 
preparing for this invasion — preparing for this 
war which they commenced. Here it is: 

" That in order to provide speedily forces to repel inva- 
sion, maintain the rightful possession of the confederate 
States of America in every portion of territory belonging 
to each State, and to secure the public tranquillitv and in- 
dependence against threatened assault, the President be, 
and he is hereby, authorized to employ the militia, mil- 
itary, and naval forces ofthe confederate States of .\merica, 
and asli for and accept the services of any number of vol- 
unteers, not e.xceeding one liiuidred thousand." 

When your forts were surrendered, and when 
the President of the so-called southern confed- 
eracy was authorized to call out the entire militia, 
naval, and military force, and then to receive in 
the service of the confederate States one hundred 
thousand men, the President calls for seventy-five 
thousand men to defend the capital and the public 
property. Are we for the Government, or are we 
against it? That is the question. Taking all the 
facts into consideration, do we not see that an 
invasion was intended? It was even announced 
by Mr.Iverson upon thisfloor that ere long their 
Congress would be sitting Irere and this Govern- 
ment would be overthrown. When the facts are 
all put together we see the scheme, and it is noth- 
ing more nor less than executing a programme 
deliberately made out; and yet Senators hesitate, 
falter, and complain, and say the President has 
suspended the writ of habeas corpus, increased the 
Army and Navy, and they ask, where was the 
necessity for all this? With your forts taken, 
your men fired upon, your ships attacked at sea, 
and one hundred thousand men called into the 
field by this so-called southern confederacy, with 



the additional authority to call out the entire mil- 
itary and naval force of those States, Senators- 
talk about the enormous call of the President for 
seventy-five thousand men and the increase he 
has made of the Army and Navy. Mr. Presi- 
dent, it all goes to show, in my oiiinion, that the 
sympathies of Senators are with tlie one ggvern- 
ment and against the other. Admittmg that there 
was a little stretch of power; admitting that the 
margin was pretty wide when the power was ex- 
ercised, the query now comes, when you have got 
the power, wlien you are sitting here in a legis- 
lative attitude, are you willing to sustain the Gov- 
ernment and give it the means to sustain itself? 
It is not worth while to talk about what has been 
done before. The question on any measure should 
be, is it necessary now? If it is, it should not be 
withheld from the Government. 

Senators talk about violating the Constitution 
and the laws. A great deal has been said about 
searches and seizures, and the right of protection 
of persons, and of papers. I reckon it is equally 
as important to protecta Government from seizure 
as it is an individual. I reckon the moral and 
the law of the case would be just as strong in 
seizing upon that which belonged to the Federal 
Government as it would upon that belonging to 
an individual. What belongs to us in the" aggre- 
gate is protected and maintained by the same law, 
moral and legal, as that which applies to an in- 
dividual. These rebellious States, after commenc- 
ing tills war, after violating the Constitution^ 
seized our forts, our arsenals, our dock-yards, 
our custom-houses, our public buildings, our 
ships, and last, though not least, plundered the in- 
dependent treasury at New Orleans of $1,000,000. 
And yet Senators talk about violations of the law 
and the Constitution. They say the Constitu- 
tion is disregarded, and the Government is about 
to be overthrown. Does not this talk about vio- 
lations of the Constitution and law come with a 
beautiful grace from that side of the House? I 
repeat again, sir, are not violations of the Con- 
stitution necessary for its protection and vindica- 
tion more tolerable than violations of that sacred 
instrument aimed at the overthrow and destruc- 
tion of the Government? We have seen ins-tances, 
and other instances might occur, where it might 
be indispensably necessary for the Government to 
exercise a power, and to assume a position that 
was not clearly legal and constitutional, in order 
to resist the entire overthrow and upturning of 
the Government and all our institutions. 

But the President issued his proclamation. 
When did he issue it, and for what? He issued 
his proclamation calling out seventy-five thou- 
sand men after the congress of the so-called south- 
ern confederacy had passed a law to call out the 
entire militia, and to receive into their service one 
htmdrcd thousand men. The President issued 
his proclamation after they had taken Fort Moul- 
trie and Castle Pinckney ; after they had fired upon 
and reduced Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter was 
taken on the 12th. and on the 15th he issued his 
proclamation. Talcing all these circumstances 
together, it showed that they intended to advance, 
and that their object was to extend their power, 
to subjugate the other States, and to overthrow 



15 



the Coiistitiition and tlie Iiiws nnd the Govern- 
ment. 

Senators talk about violations of the Constitu- 
tion. Pliivo you liianl any intimation of com- 
plaint from those Si'mgors about this soutiitrn 
confederacy — ihi.s band of traitors to their coun- 
try and their country's institutions? I repeat, 
substatitially, the lani|jiu>y;e of tiic Senator from 
Illinois, [Mr. IjUowning:] " Have you heard any 
complaint or alarm about violations of constitu- 
tional law on ttiat side? Oh, no! But we must 
stand still; the Government must not move while 
they are moving with a hundred thousand men; 
while they have the power to call forth the entire 
militia and ilu army and the navy. While they 
are reducing our forts, and robbing us of our prop- 
erty, we must stand still; the Constitution and the 
laws must not be violated; and an arraignment is 
made to weaken and paralyze the Government in 
its greatest peril and trial." 

On the loth of April, the proclamation was 
issued calling out seventy-five thousand men, after 
the confederate States had authorized one hundred 
thousand men to be received by their president — 
this man Davis, who stood up here and made a 
retiring speech — a man educated and nurtured by 
the Govcnnnent; who sucked its pap; who re- 
ceived all his military instruction at the hands of 
this Government; a man who got all his distinc- 
tion, civil and military, in the service of this gov- 
ernment, beneath the stars and stripes, and then, 
without cause — without being deprived of a single 
right or privilege — the sword he unsheathed in 
.vindication of that flag in a foreign land, given to 
him by the hand of his cherishing mother, he 
stands this day prepared to plunge into her bosom! 
Such men as these have their apologists here in 
Congress to excuse and extenuate their acts, 
either directly or indirectly. You never hear from 
them of law or Constitution being violated down 
there. Oh, no; that is not mentioned. 

On the 15th the President issued his proclama- 
tion calling seventy-five thousand men into the 
service of the United States, and on the 17ih this 
same Jefferson Davis, President of the southern 
confederacy, issued a proclamation proposing 
or opening the door to the issuance of letters of 
marque and reprisal, and that, too, in violation 
of the pseudo-hermaphrodite government that 
has been gotten up down there. In retalliation 
for the proclamation issued by the President of 
the United States, he, in violation of the con- 
stitution of this pseudo-confederacy, issued his 
proclamation proposing to issue letters of marque 
and reprisal. In other words, he proposed to 
open an oflice and say, we will give out licences 
to rob the citizens of the United States of all their 
property wherever it can be picked up upon the 
high seas. This he proposed to do not only in 
violation of the constitution of the confederate 
States, but in violation of the law of nations; for 
no people — I care not by what name you call it — 
has a right to issue letters of marque and reprisal 
until its independence is first acknowledged as a 
separate and distinct power. Has that been done? 
I think, therefore. Senators can find some little 
violation of constitution and law down there among 



them.selves. Sir, they hnvc violated the law and 
the Constitution every step they progruiiHcd in 
going ilxre, nnd now ilwy violate it in trying to 
come this way. Thin? wan u g< nernl liciimo 
otlVred, II premium oUVridjio every fn-eliootcr, 
to every nwii whowuniud to plund<rand phiytlic 
pirate on tin- high .sin.s, to come and take- u cmn- 
mission, and plunder in the niititc of die Moutlw-Tn 
confederacy; to take, at that lime, the prop- 
erty of TiMuiessee or the prifperty <if Kentucky, 
your beef, your pork, your Hour, and <viry other 
product making its way ton foreign niarkci. Mr. 
Davis aulhorizt.-d letters of n>aripie and repriMul 
to |)ick them up nndapprof)riale ihein. After that, 
their congri'ss saw that he had gone ahead of 
their constitution and tin' laws of nation.s, and 
they passed a law modifying the issuance of let- 
ters of marque and reprisal, that they .should i)rey 
upon the property of the citizens of the United 
States, excepting certain States — excepting Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee — holding tlvat out as a bait, 
as an inducement to get them in. 

I do not think, therefore, when we approach 
the subject fi\iriy and squarely, that there was 
any very great wrong in the President of the 
United States, on the 19th, issuing his proclama- 
tion blockading their ports, saying you shall not 
have the opportunity, so far as I can prevent it, 
of plundering and appropriating other people's 
property on the high seas. I tliink he did pre- 
cisely what was right. He would have been 
derelict to his duty, and to the high behest of the 
American people, if he had sat here and failed to 
exert every power within his reach and scope to 
protect the property of citizens of the United 
States on the high seas. 

Senators seem to think it is no violation of the 
Constitution to make war on your Government; 
and when its enemies are stationed in sight of the 
capital, there is no alarm, no dread, no scare, n 
fright. Some of us would not feel so very com- 
fortable if they were to get this city. I believe 
there are others who would not be very much 
disturbed. I do not think I could sleep right 
sound if they were in possession of this city; not 
that I believe I am more timid than most men, 
but I do not believe there would be much quarter 
for me; and, by way of self-protection, and en- 
joying what tew rights I have remaining, I expect 
it would be better, if they were in possession of 
this city for me to be located in some other point, 
not too inconvenient or too remote. I believe 
there are others who would feel very comfortable 
here. 

Then, Mr. President, in tracing this subject 
along, I cannot see what great wrong has been 
committed by the Government in taking the course 
it has taken. I repeat again, this Government is 
now passing through its third ordeal; and the time 
has arrived when it should put forth its entire 
power, and say to rebels and traitors wherever 
they are, that the supremacy of the Constitution, 
and laws made in pursuance thereof, shall be sus- 
tained; that those citizens who have been borne 
down and tyrannized over, and who have had 
laws of treason passed against them in their own 
States and threatened wuh confiscation of prop- 



16 



erty, shall be protected. I say it is the paramount 
duty of this Government to assert its power and 
maintain its integrity. I say it is the duty of this 
Government to protect those States, or the loyal 
citizens of those States in the enjoyment of a re- 
publican form of government; for we have seen 
one continued system of usurpation carried on, 
from one end of these southern States to the other, 
disregarding the popular judgment; disregarding 
the popular will; setting at defiance the judgment 
of the people; disregarding their rights; paying 
no attention to their State constitutions in any 
sense whatever. We are bound, under the Con- 
stitution, to protect those States and their citizens. 
We are bound to guaranty to them a republican 
form of government; it is our duty to do it. If 
we have no Government, let the delusion be dis- 
pelled; let the dream pass away; and let the peo- 
ple of the United States, and the nations of the 
earth, know at once that we have no Government. 
If we have a Government, based on the intelli- 
gence and virtue of the American people, let that 
great fact be now established, and once estab- 
lished, this Government will be on a more endur- 
ing and permanent basis than it ever was before. 
I still have confidence in the integrity, the virtue, 
the intelligence, and the patriotism of the great 
mass of the people; and so believing, I intend to 
stand by the Government of my fathers to the last 
extremity. 

In the last presidential contest I am free to say 
that I took some part. I advocated the preten- 
sions and claims of one of the distinguished sons 
of Kentucky, as a Democrat. I am a Democrat 
to-day; I expect to die one. My Democracy rests 
upon the great principle I have stated; and in the 
support of measures, I have always tried to be 
guided by a conscientious conviction of right; and 
I have laid down for myself, as a rule of action, 
in all doubtlYil questions, to pursue principle; and 
in the pursuit of a great principle I can never 
reach a wrong conclusion. I intend, in this case, 
to pursue principle. I am a Democrat, believing 
the principles of this Government are Democratic. 
It is based upon the Democratic theory. I believe 
Democracy can stand, notwithstanding all the 
tauntsandjeersthatarc thrown at it throughoutthe 
southern confederacy. The principles which I call 
Democracy — I care not by what name they are 
sustained, whether by Republicans, by Whigs, 
or not — are the groat principles that lie at the 
foundation of this Government, and they will be 
maintained. We have seen that so far the exper- 
iment has succeeded well; and now we should 
make an effort, in this last ordeal through which 
we are passing, to crush out the fatal doctrine of 
secession and those who are cooperating with it 
in the shape of rebels and traitors. 

I advocated the professions of a distinguished 
son of Kentucky at the late election, for the rea- 
son that I believed he was a better Union man 
than any other candidate in the field. Others ad- 
vocated the claims of Mr. Bell, believing him to 
be a better Union man; others those of Mr. Doug- 
las. In the South we know that there was no 
Republican ticket. 1 was a Union man then; I 
was a Union man in 1833; I am a Union man now. 
And what has transpired since the election in No- 



vember last that has produced sufficient cause to 
break up this Government.' The Senator from 
California enumerated the facts up to the 25th 
day of May, 1860, when there was a vote taken 
in this body declaring that further legislation was 
not necessary for the protection of slave property 
in the Territories. Now, from the 6th of Novem- 
ber up to the 20th of December, tell me what trans- 
pired of sufficient cause to break up this Govern- 
ment? Was there any innovation^was there any 
additional step taken in reference to the rights of 
the States or the institution of slavery ? If the 
candidate whose claims I advocated had been 
elected President — I speak of him as a candidate, 
of course not meaning to be personal — I do not 
believe this Government would have been broken 
up. If Stephen A. Douglas had been elected, I 
do not believe this Government would have been 
broken up. Why ? Because those who advo- 
j cated the pretensions of Mr. Lincoln w-ould have 
j done as all parties have done heretofore: they 
I would have yielded to the high behest of the 
American people. 

Then, is. the mere defeat of one man, and the 
election of another, according to the forms of law 
and the Constitution, sufficient cause to break up 
this Government? No; it is not sufficient cause. 
Do we not know, too, that if all the seceding Sen- 
ators had stood here as faithful sentinels, repre- 
senting the interests of their States, they had it 
in their power to check any advance that might 
be made by the incoming Administration. I 
showed these facts, and enumerated them at the 
last session. They were shown here the other 
day. On the 4th of March, when President Lin- 
coln wa^ inaugurated, we had a majority of six 
upon this floor in opposition to his Administra- 
tion. Where, then, is there even a pretext for 
breaking up tlie Government upon the idea that 
he would have encroached upon our rights ? Does 
not the nation know that Mr. Lincoln could not 
have made his Cabinet without the consent of 
the majority of the Senate? Do we not know that 
he could not even have sent a minister abroad 
without the majority of the Senate confirming the 
nomination? Do we not know that if any min- 
ister whom he sent abroad should make a treaty 
inimical to the institutions of the South, that 
treaty could not have been ratified without a ma- 
jority of two thirds of the Senate? 

With all these facts staring them in the face, 
where is the pretense for breaking up this Gov- 
ernment? Is it not clear that there has been a 
fixed purpose, a settled design to break up the 
Government and change the nature and character 
and whole genius of the Government itself? Does 
it not prove conclusively, as there was no cause, 
that they simply selected it as an occasion that was 
favorable to excite the prejudices of the South, 
and thereby enable them to break up this Govern- 
ment and establish a southern confederacy? 

Then when we get at it, what is the real cause ? 
If Mr. Breckinridge, or Mr. Davis, or some 
other fiivorite of those who are now engaged in 
breaking up the Government, had been elected 
President of the United States, it would have been 
a very nice thing; they would have respected the 
judgment of the people, and no doubt their con- 



17 



fidence in the cnpncity of the people for self-gov 
ernmoiit woukl have been iticrcnsod; Inu it so linp- 
pened tlmt the people thoii^lit proper to elect 
somebody else, accordinj^ to law and the Consti- 
tution. Then, as all parties had done heretofore, 
it was the duty of the whole people to acr|uiesce; 
if he made a ;jood President, sustain liim; if he 
became a bad one, condemn him; if he violated 
the law and the Constitution, impeach him. We 
had our remedy under the Constitution and in ilie 
Union. 

What is the real cause.' Disappointed ambi- 
tion; an unhallowed ambition. Certain men could 
not wait any longer, and they seized this occasion 
to do wiiat they luid been wanting to do for a 
long time — break up the Government. If they 
could not rule a large country, they thought they 
might rule a small one. Hence one of the prime 
movers in the Senate ceased to be a Senator, and 
passed out to be president of the southern con- 
federacy. Another, who was bold enough on this 
floor to proclaim himself a rebel, retired as a Sen- 
ator, and became secretary of state. All perfect- 
ly disinterested, no ambition about it! Another, 
Mr. Benjamin, of Louisiana — one who under- 
stands something about the idea of dividing gar- 
ments; who belongs to the tribe that parted the 
garments of our Saviour, and upon his vesture cast 
lots — went out of this body and was made attor- 
ney general, to show his patriotism and disin- 
terestedness — nothing else! Mr. Slidell, disinter- 
ested altogether, is to go as minister to France. 
I mighi; enumerate many such instances. This 
is all patriotism, pure disinterestedness! Do we 
not see where it all ends? Disappointed, impa- 
tient, unhallowed ambition. There has been no 
cause for breaking up this Government; there have 
been no rightsdenied,no privileges trampled upon 
under the Constitution and Union, that might not 
have been remedied more effectually in the Union 
than outside of it. What rights are to be attained 
outside of the Union ? The seceders have violated 
the Constitution, trampled it under foot; and 
what is their condition now.' Upon the abstract 
idea that they had a right to secede, they have 
gone out; and what is the consequence ? Oppres- 
sion, taxation, blood, and civil war. They have ' 
gone out of the Union; and, I repeat again, they 
have got taxes, usurpations, blood, and civil war. i 

I said just now that I had advocated the elec- i 
tion to the Presidency of the distinguished Sen- ' 
ator from Kentucky, on the ground that he was I 
a good Union man. I wish we could now hear 
his eloquent voice in favor of the old Government 
of our fathers, and in vindication of the stars and 
stripes, that have been borne in triumph every- 
where. I hold in my hand a document which was 
our text book in the campaign. It is headed 
"Breckinridge and Lane Campaign Document 
No. 16. Who arc the disunionists.' Breckinridge 
and Lane the true Union candidates." It con- 
tains an extract which 1 will read from the Sena- 
tor's address on the removal of the Senate from 
the old to the new Chamber. I would to God he 
was as good a Union man to-day as I think he 
was then: ! 

"Such is our country; ay, and more— far more than' 
my mind could conceive or my tongue could utter. Is , 



tlmri! an .Ami'ricnn wlio rcBrcm ihe pam ? f « (hen- on<' who 

will ilnridi; hi inilry's liiwi", pcTVcrl Iht CoMstltiitl'in, or 

alionalu her people; .' 1 1 tUm- hit hucIi n man, l<t IiIh hi. m- 
ory descend lo posUrlly ladun wilh the ixoirallonii of nil 
niiinkind." .... » I.<-t ii-.d-voutly (runt 
Ihal another Senate, In anc.ihcr aje, hliati hiar to a ww 
and lartfcr Clianihi-i tliin (.■i)ns||ini|.Mi vigorous and Invio- 
late, anil that the last Rineralion <il p.i.-.t.tiiy xhall witncM 
tin; di-lihcralions ol" tin; Ufprisrntatlven u( .Vnierlcan ritate* 
still united, prosperous, and Tree." 

Now this. was the text — an extract from a 
speech of the Senator, after the nomination waa 
made: 

" When that convention selected me a!i one of ItM candi- 
dates, lookini; at my hninlile antecedents ami the place of 
my habitation, It gave to the eounlry, so I'ar as 1 was con- 
cerned, a personal and u'eographical guarantee that lu In- 
terest was In tlie Union." 

In addition to that, in Tennessee we headed our 
electoral ticket as if to o;ive unmistakable evidence 
of our devotion to th(,' Union, and the reason why 
we sustained him, "National Democratic ticket. 
' Instead of dissolving the Union, we intend to 
lengthen it and to strengthen it.' — Breckinridge. " 
Where are his eloquent tones now.' They are 
heard arraigning the Administration for what he 
conceives to be premature action, in advance of 
the law, or a slight departure from the Constit^i- 
tion. Which is the most tolerable, premature 
action, action in advance of law, a sligiit depart- 
ure from the Constitution, (putting it on his own 
ground,) or an entire overthrow of the Govern- 
ment.' Are there no advances, are there no in- 
roads, being made to-day upon the Constitution 
and the existence of the Government itself.' Let 
us look at the question plainly and fairly. Here 
is an invading army almost within cannon shot 
of the capital, headed by Jeff. Davis and Beaure- 
gaid. Suppose they advance on the city to-night; 
subjugate it; depose the existing authorities; ex- 
pel the present Government: what kind of govern- 
ment have you then.' Is there any Constitution 
in it.' Is there any law in it.' The Senator can stand 
here almost in sight of the enemy, see the citadel 
of freedom, the Constitution, tranij)led upon, and 
there is no apprehension; but he can look with an 
eagle eye, and, with an analytic process almost un- 
surpassed, discriminate against and attack those 
who are trying to manage your Government for 
its safety and preservation. He has no word of 
condemnation for the invading army that threat- 
ens to overthrow the capital, that threatens to 
trample the Constitution and the law under foot. 
I repeat, suppose Davis, at the head of his ad- 
vancing columns, should depose your Govern- 
ment and expel your authority: what kind of gov- 
ernment will you have? Will there be any Con- 
stitution left? How eloquent myfi-iend was upon 
constitutions. He told us the Constitution was 
the measure of power, and that we should under- 
stand and feel constitutional restraints; and yet 
when your Government is perhaps within a few 
hours of beingoverlhrown, and the law and Con- 
stitution trampled under foot, there are no appre- 
hensions on his part; no words of rebuke for those 
who are endeavoring to accomplish such results. 
The Old Dominion has got the brunt of the war 
upon her hands. I sympathize with her most 
deeply, and especially with the loyal portion of 
hercitizens, who have been brow-beaten and dom- 



18 



Ineered over. Now the war is transferred to Vir- 
ginia, and lier plains are made to lun with blood; 
^and when this is secured, what do v/e hear in the 
far South? Howell Cobb, another of these dis- 
interested patriots,, said not long since, in a speech 
in Georgia: 

"The people of the guif States need have no apprehen- 
sions; tliey niiiiht go on witli their phuiting and their other 
business as usua! ; the war woukl not coivie.to theirsecllon ; 
its theater would be along the borders of the Ohio river and 
in Virginia." 

Virginia oughtto congratulate herself upon that 
■position., for she has got the war. Now they want 
to advance. Their j-,lans and designs are to got 
across into Maryland, and carry on a war of sub- 
jugation. There is wonderful alarm among certain 
■gentlemen here at the term "subjugate." They 
are alarmed at the idea of making citizens who 
have violated the law simply conform to it by 
■enforcing their obedience. If a majority of the 
citizens in a State have violated the Constitution, 
have trampled it under" foot, and violated the law, 
is it subjugation to assert the supremacy of the 
■Constitution and the law? Is it any more than a 
•simple enforcement of the law ? It would be one of 
the bestsubjugations thatcould take place if some 
•of them were subjugated, and brought back to the 
constitutional position that they occupied before. 
1 would to God that Tennessee stood to-day where 
she did three months ago. • 

Mr. President, it is provided in the Constitution 
■of the United States that ♦' no State shall, without 
the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, 
iceep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter 
into anyagreementorcompactwith anotherState, 
or with a foreign Power, or engage in war unless 
-actually ijivaded, or in such imminent danger as 
■will not admit of delay." The State authorities 
of Tennessee, before her people had even voted 
upon an ordinance to separate her from the Union, 
formed a league by which they transferred fifty- 
five thousand men, the whole army, over to the 
confederate States for the purpose of prosecuting 
their war. is it not strange that such a palpable 
violation ofthe Constitution should not be referred 
to and condemned by any one ? Here is a mem- 
ber of the Union, without even having the vote 
taken upon an ordinance of separation or seces- 
sion, forming a league, by its commissioners or 
-ministers, and handing over fifty-five tliousand 
•men to make war npo'n the Government of the 
United States, though tiiey were themselves then 
■within the Union. No one seems to find fault 
■with that, Tliefact is, that, in the whole progress 
of secession, tlie Constitution and the law liave 
been violated at every step from its incipiency to 
the present point. How have the people of my 
State been treated ? I know that this may not 
interest the Senate to any very great extent; but 
I must briefly refer to it. The people of a portion 
of that State, having devotion and attachment to 
the Constitution and the Government as framed 
by the sires of the Revolution, still adhering to it, 
gave a majority of more than twenty thousand 
votes in favor (if the iJnion at the election. After 
that, this portion of the State, East Tennessee, 
called aconvention,and the convention published 
an address, in wiiich they sum up some of the 



grievances -which we have been bearing in that 
portion of the country. They say: 

" The Memphis Appeal, a prominent disunion paper, 
published a false account of our proceedincs, under the 
head 'the traitors in council,' and styled us", who repre- 
sented every county but two in East Tennessee, ' the little 
batch of disaffected traitors who hover around the noxious 
atmosphere of Aniiuevv Johnson's home.' Our meeting 
was telegraphed to the New Orleans Delta, and it was 
falsely said that we had passed a resolution recommending 
submission if seventy tliou>and votes were not cast against 
secession. The dispatcli added that ' the southern rights 
men are determined to hold possession of the State, tliough 
they should be in a minority.'" 

They had fifty-five thousand men and $.5,000,000 
to sustain them, the State authorities with them, 
and made the declaration that they intended to hold 
the State though they should be in a minority. 
This shows tlie ad vanceof tyranny and usurpation. 
By way of showing the Senate some of the wrong.s 
borne and submitted to by that people, who are 
loyal to the Government — who have been deprived 
of the arms furnished by the Government for their 
protection. — withheld by this litlle man Harris, 
the Governor of the State — I -will read a fewpar- 
agraphs from the address: 

" It has passed laws declaring it treason to savor do any- 
Jhing in favor of the Goveinment of the United States, or 
against the confederate States; and sucli a law is now be- 
fore, and we ajiprehend will soon be passed by the Legis- 
lature of Tennessee. 

" It has int'olved the southern States in a war whose 
success is hopeless, ai>d which snust ultimately lead to the 
ruin of the people. 

" Its 1)igoted, overbearing, and intolerant spirit, has al- 
ready subjected the people of East 'I'ennessee to njany petty 
grievances ; our people have been insulted : our flags have 
been fired upon and torn down ; our houses have been 
rudely entered ; our families subjected to in>ult; our peace- 
able meetings interr'apted ; our women and children shot 
at by a merciless soldiery ; our towns pillaged ; our citizens 
robbed, and some of them assassinated and murdered. 

" No efl'ort has been spared to deter the Union men of 
East Tennessee t'rom the expressio:; of their free thoughts. 
The penaltiesof treason have been threatened against them, 
and murder and assassination have been openly encour- 
aged by leading secession journals. As secession has been 
thus overbearing and Intolerant while in the minority in 
East Tennessee, nothing better can be expected of the pre- 
tended majority than wild, unconstitutional, and oppressive 
legislation ; an utter contempt and disregard of Irw ; a de- 
termination to force every Union man in the State to sweaj 
to the support of a constitution he abhors ; to yield his 
money and property to aid a cans • lie detests ; and to be- 
come the object of scorn and derision, as well as the vic- 
tim of intolerable and relentless oppression." 

These are some of the wrongs that we are en- 
during in that section of Tennessee-; not near all 
of them, but a few whicii I have presented that 
the country may know what we are submitting 
to. Since I left my home, having only one way 
to leave tlie State through two or three passes 
comingout through Cumberland Gap, 1 have been 
advised that they had even sent their armies to 
blockade these passes in the mountains, as they 
say, to prevent Johnson from returning with arms 
and munitions to place in the hands of the people 
to vindicate their rights, repel invasion, and put 
down domestic insurrection and rebellion. Yes, 
sii-, there they stand in arms environing a popu- 
lation of three hundred and twenty-fivethousand 
loyal, brave, patriotic, and unsubdued people; but 
yet powerless, and not in a condition to vindicate 
their rights. Hence I come to the Government, 
and I do not ask it as a suppliant, but I demand 



19 



it as a constitutional riglu, that you give us pro- j| 
tection, give us arms niui munitions; ami if tlu-y ' 
cannot be got there in any other way, to take I 
them there with an invading army, and dehver | 
the people from the oppression to v/hieh they are | 
now subjected. We claim to lie the State. 'Tin' 
other divisions may have -seceded and gone o(V; , 
and if this Government will stand hy and permit I 
those portions of th-j State to go ofl", and not en- 1 
force tlie liws and protect the loyal citizens there, ' 
we cannot help it; but we still claim to be the 
State, and if two thirds have fallen oil', or have j 
been sunk by an earthquake, it does not change 
our relation to this Government. If the Govern- I 
ment will let them go, and not give us protection 
the fault is not ours; but if you will give us pro- j 
tection we intt-nd to stand as a Slate, as a part of 
this Confederacy, holding to the stars and stripes ' 
the tlag of our country. We demand it according ! 
to law; we demand it upon the guarantees of the 
Constitution. You are bound to guaranty to us a 
republican forrn of Government, and we ask it as 
a constitutional right. We do not ask you to in- 
terfere as a party, as your feelings or prejudices 
may be one way or another in reference to the 
parties of the country; but we ask you to interfere 
as a GovcrniTicnt according to the Constitution, 
■Of course we want your sympathy, and your re- 
gard, and your respect; but we ask your inter- 
ference on constitutional grounds. 

The aivieiulments to the Constitution, which 
■constitute the bill of rights, declare that " a well 
regulated militia being necessciry to the security 
■of a free St;.te, the right of the people to keep and 
bear arms shall not be infringed." Our people 
are denied this right secured to them in their own 
constitution and the Constitution of the United 
■Slates; yet we hear no complaints liere of viola- 
tions of the Constitution in this respect. We ask 
'the Government to interpose to secure us this con- 
stitutional right. We want the passes in our 
mountains ojiened, we want deliverance and pro- 
tection for a downtrodden and oppressed people 
who are stru^-gling for their independence wiih- 
tmt arms. If we had had ten thousand stajid of 
arms and ammunition when the contest com- 
menced, we should have asked no further assist- 
ance. We have not got them. We arc a rural 
people; we have villagesand small towns — no large 
cities. Our [lupulation is homogenous, industri- 
ous, frugal, brave, independent; but now harmless 
•and powerless, and oppressed by usurpers. You 
may be too late in comingto our relief; or you may 
not corneal all, though I do not doubt that you will 
■come; they may trample us under foot; they may 
•convert our plainsintograveyards, and the caves of 
ourmountau)sinlosepulcliers;but they will never 
take us out of this Union, or make us a land of 
slaves — nO; never. We intend to stand as firm as 
adamant, and as unyielding as our own majestic 
mountains that surround us. Yes, we will be as 
■fixed and as immovable as are they upon their 
bases. We will stand as long as we can; aiid if 
we are overpowered, and liberty shall be driven 
■from the land, we intend before she departs, to 
take the flag of lur country, with a stalwart arm, 
a patriotic heart, and an honest tread, and place it 
upon the summit of the loftiest and most majestic 



inountnin. We intend to plant it llirre, and l«-nre 
it, to indicate to the inquirer who may come in 
after limes, the spot where the Goddekii of Lihcriy 
lingered and wej.t for the hi«l lime, before iiho 
took her (light from u people once prospcrouii, 
free, anil happy. 

We asic the Government to ronic to our nid. 
We love the Connitntion iisniade by our fiithers 
We have confidence in the integijiyand rnpnriiy 
of the people lo govern thiniHelvi s. We have 
lived entertaining these oninion.s; we iniend to 
die entertaining them. The battle lia.scomnienced. 
The President lias j)laced it u[ion the true ground. 
It is an issue on tiie one hand for the poojde's 
Government, and its ovirthrow on the other. We 
have commenced the battle of Ireedom. It in free- 
dom's cause. We are resisting usurpation and 
oppression. We will triumph; we must triumph. 
Right is with us. A great and fundamental prin- 
ciple of right, that lies at llie foundation of all 
things, is with us. We may meet with impedi- 
ments, and may meet with disasters, and here and 
there a defeat; but uliimatcly freedom's cause 
must triumf)h, for — 

" riee<loiii's battle once begun, 

liciiucatlied (rciiii bji'dlin:; I'irc to son, 

Tliougli batlled oU, is ever won." 

Yes, we must triumph. Tliough sometimes I 
cannot sec my way clear in matters of this kind, 
as in matters of religion, when my facts give out, 
when my reason fails me, I draw largely upon 
my laith. My faith is strong, based on the eter- 
nal principles of right, that a thingso monstrously 
wrong as is this rebellion, cannot triumph. Can 
we submit to it? Can bleeding justice .submit to 
it? Is the Senate, rtc the American people, pre- 
pared to give up the graves of Washington and 
Jackson, to be encircled and governed and con- 
trolled by a combination of traitors and rebels? I 
say let the battle go on — it is freedom's cause — 
j until the stars and stripes (God bless them) shall 
I again be unfurled upon every cross road, and from 
every house top throughout the Confederacy, 
North and South. Let the Union be reinstated-, 
let the law be enforced; let tlie Constitution be 
supreme. 

If the Congress of the United States were to 
give up the tombs of Washington and Jackson, 
we should have rising up in our midst another 
Petor the Hermit, in a much more righteous cause 
— for ours is true, while his was a delusion — who 
would appeal to the American people and point 
to the tombs of Washington and Jack.son, in ihe 
possession of those who are v.-orse than the in- 
fidel and the Turk who held the Holy Sepulchcr. 
I believe the American people would start of their 
own accord, when appealed lo, to redeem the 
graves of Washington atul Jackson a<Kl JelTcr- 
soii,andall the other patriots who arc lyinc: within 
the limits of the southern confederacy. 1 do not 
believe they would stop the march, until again the 
flag of this Union would be placed over the graves 
of those distinguished men. There will be an 
uprising. Do not talk about Republicans now; 
do not talk about Democrats now; do aiot talk 
about Whigs or Americans now. talk about your 
country and the Constitution and the Union. 
Save that; preserve the integrity of the Govern- 



f 



20 



ment; once more place it erect among the nations 
of the earth; and then if we want to divide about 
questions that may arise in our midst, we Jiave a 
Government to divide in. 

I know it has been said that the object of this 
war is to make war on southern institutions. I 
have been in free States and I have been in slave 
States, and I thank God that, so far as I have 
been, there has been one universal disclaimer of 
any such purpose. It is a war upon no section; 
it is a war upon no peculiar institution; but it is 
a war for the integrity of the Government, for 
the Constitution, and the supremacy of the laws. 
That is what the nation understands by it. 

The people whom I represent appeal to the 
Government and to the nation to give us the 
constitutional protection that we need. 1 am 
proud to say that I have met with every manifes- 
tation of that kind in the Senate, with only a few 
dissenting voices. I am proud to say, too, that 
I believe old Kentucky, God bless her! will ulti- 
mately rise and shake off the stupor which has 
been resting upon her; and instead of denying us 
the privilege of passing through her borders, and 
taking arms and munitions of war to enable a 
downtrodden people to defend themselves, will 
not only give us that privilege, but will join us 
and help us in the work. The people of Ken- 
tucky love the Union; they love the Constitution; 
they have no fault to find with it; but in that 
State they have a duplicate to the Governor of 
ours. When we look all around, we see how the 
Governors of the different States have been in- 
volved in this conspiracy — the most stupendous 
and gigantic conspiracy that was ever formed, 
and as corrupt and as foul as that attempted by 
Catiline in the days of Rome. We know it to 
be so. Have we not known men to sit at their 
desks in this Chamber, using the Government's 
stationery to write treasonable letters; and while 
receiving their pay, sworn to support the Consti- 
tution and sustain the law, engaging in midnight 
conclaves to devise ways and means by which 
the Government and the Constitution should be 



overthrown ? The charge was made and published 
■ in the papers. Many things we know that we 
cannot put our finger upon; but we know from 
the regular steps that were taken in this work 
of breaking up the Government, or trying to break 
it up, that there was system, concert of action. 
It is a scheme more corrupt than the assassina- 
tion planned and conducted by Catiline in refer- 
ence to the Roman Senate. The time has arrived 
when we should show to the nations of the earth 
that we are a nation capable of preserving our 
existence, and give them evidence that we will 
do it. 

I have already detained the Senate much longer 
than I intended when I rose, and I shall conclude 
in a few words more. Although the Government 
has met with a little reverse within a short dis- 
tance of this city, no one should be discouraged 
and no heart should be dismayed. It ought only 
to prove the necessity of bringing forth and ex- 
erting still more vigorously the power of the Gov- 
ernment in maintenance of the Constitution and 
the laws. Let the energies of the Government be 
redoubled, and let it go on with this war — not a 
war upon sections, not a war upon peculiar insti- 
tutions anywhere; but let the Constitution and 
the Union be its frontispiece, and the supremacy 
and enforcement of the laws its watchword. Then 
it can, it will, go on triumphantly. We must 
succeed. This Government must not, cannot fail. 
Though your flag may have trailed in the dust; 
though a retrograde movement may have been 
made; though the banner of our country may 
have been sullied, let it still be borne onward; 
and if, for the prosecution of this war in behalf 
of the Government and the Constitution, it is 
necessary to cleanse and purify that banner, I say 
let it be baptized in fire from the sun and bathed 
in anation's blood! The nation must be redeemed; 
it must be triumphant. The Constitution — which 
is based upon principles immutable, and upon 
which rest the rights of man and the hopes and 
expectations of those who love freedom through- 
out the civilized world — must be maintained. 



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